HARARE – Zimbabwe have named former captain Norman Mapeza and Swiss-born coach Marc Duvillard as caretaker coaches for the next two national team games, the Zimbabwe Football Association confirmed yesterday.
Mapeza, who played at Galatasaray in Turkey and for club sides in Poland and South Africa, recently began his coaching career at Zimbabwe premier league cub Monomotapa. Duvillard previously coached Zimbabwe for one game in 1995 against Cameroon and again for two World Cup qualifiers against Madagascar the following year.The pair take charge ahead of a friendly against Mozambique in Beira on August 20 and Zimbabwe’s last African Nations Cup qualifier against Malawi in Harare on September 9.Zimbabwe are already out of contention for a place in the 2008 finals, which led to the sacking in June of previous coach Charles Mhlauri.Meanwhile, Castle Premiership champions Mamelodi Sundowns have announced the signing of highly rated Chilean international and holding midfielder Jorge Acuna ahead of the start of their title defence.Sundowns announced on Tuesday that Acuna had agreed personal terms with the Chloorkop outfit and the player is expected to arrive in the country on Friday to finalise the contract, which is expected to run for at least two years.Acuna is a current Chilean international and has already earned 18 caps for his country.He has already played in Europe for Dutch sides Feyenoord and RBC Roosendaal until the summer of 2006 when his contract expired.He attracted the attention of Blackburn Rovers where Mark Hughes wanted to bring him to Ewood Park and a deal appeared imminent until Wigan Athletic also came into the picture.Nampa-Reuters and SupersoccerDuvillard previously coached Zimbabwe for one game in 1995 against Cameroon and again for two World Cup qualifiers against Madagascar the following year.The pair take charge ahead of a friendly against Mozambique in Beira on August 20 and Zimbabwe’s last African Nations Cup qualifier against Malawi in Harare on September 9.Zimbabwe are already out of contention for a place in the 2008 finals, which led to the sacking in June of previous coach Charles Mhlauri.Meanwhile, Castle Premiership champions Mamelodi Sundowns have announced the signing of highly rated Chilean international and holding midfielder Jorge Acuna ahead of the start of their title defence.Sundowns announced on Tuesday that Acuna had agreed personal terms with the Chloorkop outfit and the player is expected to arrive in the country on Friday to finalise the contract, which is expected to run for at least two years.Acuna is a current Chilean international and has already earned 18 caps for his country.He has already played in Europe for Dutch sides Feyenoord and RBC Roosendaal until the summer of 2006 when his contract expired.He attracted the attention of Blackburn Rovers where Mark Hughes wanted to bring him to Ewood Park and a deal appeared imminent until Wigan Athletic also came into the picture.Nampa-Reuters and Supersoccer
