MARIO’S TREATMENT OF MUNETSI IS PROBABLY THE CLOSEST THING TO WITCHCRAFT IN FOOTBALL

JUST after Mario Marinica announced his Warriors squad for the Four Nations tournament in Botswana yesterday, social media exploded yesterday with fury following his decision to once again snub Marshall Munetsi.

The Paris FC midfielder was first sidelined by Mario from the AFCON finals in Morocco, with the coach saying he didn’t want to take a huge gamble by bringing in an “injured” player.

This was despite Munetsi insisting that he was fit enough to play for his country and saying he felt, at the age of 29, this was the last chance for him to play at the tournament while still in his prime.

He hinted that his English Premiership side Wolves were not fielding him because they didn’t want to take a chance given they were looking at moving him to another club during the European winter transfer season, which opens in January.

And, true to his words, Wolves loaned him out to French top-flight side FC Paris, where he could seal a permanent move, just after the window opened.

Munetsi has flourished at FC Paris where he has scored in his last three matches.

The midfielder and his Warriors counterpart, Tawanda Maswanhise, are the best performing Zimbabwean footballers right now.

Ironically, Maswanhise struggled to earn the faith of Mario and was kept on the bench in the Warriors’ first two matches at the AFCON finals before being thrown into the fray in the final match against Bafana Bafana.

He showed Mario how his belief in his flawed science had misled him as he produced a man-of-the-match performance against Bafana Bafana in the Warriors’ 2-3 defeat.

In just 90 minutes, he also convinced the CAF experts that he was one of the THREE most promising African footballers.

Maswanhise, who has scored 21 goals for his Scottish club Motherwell, has been drafted into the squad for the Botswana trip.

But Munetsi is still missing.

Mario did not explain the decision to leave out Munetsi and neither did ZIFA provide an explanation as to why one of the two best performing Warriors is not part of the squad.

While other coaches release their national team squads at media conferences, where they get a chance to defend their decisions and explain why they would have picked or omitted certain players, Mario prefers to just post his squad on the ZIFA website.

This means that journalists do not get the chance to get an explanation from the coach as to why certain players are missing.

A man believed to be the midfielder’s brother, Moreboys Munetsi, went on social media yesterday to urge the Warriors vice-captain to call time on his international career.

“It’s time for Marshall Munetsi to consider retirement from the national team,” he posted.

“He should use his remaining years to focus on his club.”

A number of posts, including some who were demanding ‘Justice For Munetsi’, started appearing on social media.

While Mario has the right to call the players he wants, it’s important that he should justify why he has done that because this is a national team and not his personal club.

Sadly, ZIFA, and their Romanian employee, decided to keep quiet, despite clear signs that Munetsi’s omission was going to trigger the kind of controversy we have seen since the announcement.

Why was an explanation important?

• It would have given ZIFA, and by extension Mario, control of the Munetsi narrative because, right now, whatever they say, or do, will be dismissed as just reacting to a crisis which the coach has reacted.

• It would have enlightened the fans, who are the real owners of this team which Mario coaches on their behalf, on what is really happening around one of their star players.

• By having an informed public, which clearly understands why Munetsi was omitted, it would have helped ZIFA, and Mario, to avoid the circus and fake news, we have seen on social media.

• Their explanation would have shaped the debate and we would not have seen the graphics like those calling for ‘Justice For Munetsi’ because they, too, would have had a good understanding of what is going on.

• The gap, which the association left, has given the fans a window to feast on conspiracy theories, including claims that Mario’s treatment of Munetsi is personal and the coach is happy to sacrifice results to satisfy his ego.

• Given that Mario’s trust in his science, when he sidelined Maswanhise at AFCON, was proven to have been the closest thing to witchcraft, it’s difficult for some fans to believe that his treatment of Munetsi is also not similarly flawed.

• Munetsi is not an ordinary player, he is the vice-captain of the Warriors, has captained the team on a number of occasions and, given his status in that leadership structure, it’s important that his exclusion should be explained.

Coaches come and go and, tomorrow, Mario could be coaching Botswana, where the Four Nations tournament is going to be held.

But, players like Munetsi have no other national team to play for.

That is why some fans are asking if the soul of the Warriors should be destroyed because of what appears to be a crusade by the coach.

*Herald*