Sekhukhune United youth coach Kaitano Tembo has admitted that leading a national team is a mammoth task, but it has been a huge confidence booster on a personal level.
Tembo is leading Zimbabwe on an interim basis after replacing Marian Marinica, who resigned late last month. The former defender presided over his first match on 26 May in the Unity Cup semi-final against Nigeria.
Sadly, The Warriors were humiliated by a second-string Nigeria outfit, suffering a 2-0 defeat that left Zimbabweans with mixed feelings about Tembo’s competency for the job.
They went on to force a 1-0 win over India in the third-place play-off, but they were simply not convincing. Former SuperSport United [now Siwelele FC] striker Prince Dube scored from a penalty to secure the win. Nigeria won the final after beating Jamaica 3-0 on Sunday at The Valley in London.
IT BUILDS CONFIDENCE INDIVIDUALLY SAY KAITANO TEMBO
However, for Tembo, the chance to lead Zimbabwe, albeit on an interim basis, has helped him turn a corner in terms of his confidence as a national team coach.
“It builds confidence individually and as a group. That’s what it’s done for me and the rest of the players. It gives us more belief going forward in our careers,” Tembo said.
On recording his first win at the Warriors’ helm, Tembo was on cloud nine despite playing an obscure country in footballing terms.
“Yeah, obviously I think the opposition played exactly what we expected. They played set pieces, long throw-ins, corner kicks, and crosses. I thought we prepared well for that. We dealt with that threat very well and also stopped their counter-attacks,” Tembo said.
“Defensively, I’m quite pleased and quite happy with the clean sheet. But over the course of the game, I thought we could have done better, especially in terms of keeping the ball in dangerous areas. We made a lot of technical mistakes. Alright, we lost the game to Nigeria, and this is a victory.”
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