ZIFA Strengthens Warriors Technical Structure as New Coaches Take Charge Across National Teams

The Zimbabwe Football Association has strengthened its national-team technical structure with a new group of coaches taking responsibility for the Warriors and the country’s men’s development teams.

The changes are headlined by the appointment of Spanish UEFA Pro Licence holder Ramon Català as the new Warriors head coach, with the association also bringing together a technical team that combines international experience, specialised expertise and local knowledge.

Català arrives with more than three decades of coaching experience across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Middle East. His career has included work with Celta Vigo, Espanyol, Real Zaragoza and Dynamo Kyiv, while he has also served as head coach of Nicaragua and held technical responsibilities with Libya.

He will be supported by Marc Sanchez, Vicente Girona Izquierdo and Takesure Chiragwi.

Sanchez brings more than 13 years of professional coaching experience, having worked with CE Sabadell, CF Damm, Villarreal CF and RCD Mallorca. During his time at Mallorca, he was part of the B team’s league-winning and promotion campaign and contributed to the development of players who later made their LaLiga debuts.

Girona Izquierdo adds another specialist dimension to the Warriors setup. A UEFA Pro-level coach, he has qualifications in scouting, sports analysis, sports psychology and sports management. His experience includes Villarreal CF, Shanghai Shenhua and elite and youth development work within the Algerian Football Federation.

Chiragwi provides the technical team with important knowledge of Zimbabwean football. The current CAPS United head coach previously guided Ngezi Platinum Stars to their maiden Premier Soccer League title in 2023 and was named Coach of the Year after that achievement.

He has also worked within the Warriors technical setup under several national-team coaches, giving him valuable familiarity with the national-team environment and the domestic player pool.

The restructuring extends beyond the senior Warriors, with ZIFA also strengthening the pathway through the men’s development teams.

Wilson Mutekede has been appointed assistant coach of the U23 men’s side. A CAF A Licence holder and experienced coach educator, Mutekede previously served as ZIFA Technical Director and has also had spells in charge of the Warriors.

His coaching and technical experience includes CAPS United, Kiglon, Shabanie Mine and MWOS FC, where he has recently worked as Technical Director.

At U20 level, former Warriors defender Kaitano Tembo has been appointed head coach, with former Warriors and Dynamos forward Max Makanza as his assistant.

Tembo represented Zimbabwe at the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations and enjoyed a long playing and coaching career with SuperSport United in South Africa. He later became the club’s head coach and won the 2019 MTN8 before also coaching Sekhukhune United and Richards Bay.

His appointment to the U20 setup gives the country’s young players access to a coach with extensive experience at both club and international level.

Makanza brings his own international playing and coaching background to the team. The former Warriors and Dynamos forward enjoyed a successful playing career in Germany, including a spell with Bonner SC, before moving into coaching and player development.

His experience includes player-coach roles and extensive work within German youth football.

The U17 Boys will be led by Tafadzwa Mashiri, with former Warriors defender and midfielder George Mbwando serving as assistant coach.

Mashiri is a CAF A-qualified coach and coach educator who has worked across youth and senior football. He previously guided Zimbabwe’s U17s to gold at the 2016 AUSC Region Five Games and has also worked with Triangle United, Harare City and Manica Diamonds.

Mbwando brings international playing experience to the U17 structure. He enjoyed a lengthy professional career in Germany and represented Zimbabwe at the Africa Cup of Nations before moving into coaching and player development.

He has also worked in Germany, including as an U19 coach at VfB Eichstätt.

At U15 level, Backlyfield Chivenga has been appointed head coach, with CAF A Licence holder Alexio Sigion as his assistant.

Chivenga has built much of his career around youth development and has previously worked within Zimbabwe’s U17 and U20 national-team structures.

His experience also includes academy and development work in Zimbabwe, South Africa, India and China, including Aces Youth Soccer Academy and Juventus Academy Trivandrum.

Sigion has experience across both development and senior football. He has worked with Shabanie Mine, Ngezi Platinum Stars and FC Platinum’s development structures, while also serving as head coach of Nsingizini Hotspurs in Eswatini and as an assistant at CAPS United.

The appointments create a more defined pathway for young male footballers, allowing players to progress through the U15, U17, U20 and U23 structures before potentially making the step into the senior Warriors.

For ZIFA, the focus will now be on ensuring that the different levels of the national-team system work together effectively.

The Warriors are due to return to action next month in the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, giving Català and his technical team an immediate challenge as they begin their work.

The new coaching structure is expected to provide continuity and strengthen preparations across Zimbabwe’s national teams ahead of their respective international campaigns.

The senior Warriors will require immediate results, but the wider development programme will be judged over a longer period as ZIFA seeks to produce a stronger supply of players for international football.

The presence of coaches with UEFA and CAF qualifications, international experience and knowledge of Zimbabwe’s domestic game gives the association a mixture of different strengths.

Català’s international experience, Sanchez’s European background, Girona Izquierdo’s specialist expertise and Chiragwi’s domestic knowledge provide the senior Warriors with a varied technical team.

Further down the pathway, experienced coaches such as Tembo, Makanza, Mashiri, Mbwando, Chivenga, Sigion and Mutekede will be responsible for helping develop the next generation of Zimbabwean players.

The success of the new structure will ultimately depend on how effectively those coaches work together, how regularly the development teams compete and how successfully talented players are identified and prepared for senior international football.

For Zimbabwe, the immediate attention will be on the Warriors and their upcoming AFCON qualifying assignments.

But behind the senior team, a new generation is being prepared.

With technical leadership now in place across the men’s national-team pathway, ZIFA will hope the structure can produce greater continuity, stronger player development and a deeper pool of talent for the Warriors in the years ahead.