Klaus Dieter Pagels is fast approaching 12 months into his job as the Zimbabwe national team manager. He was appointed in his role as the national team manager back in November 2012. Now, he has revealed that talks have been ongoing with the Zimbabwe president over the possibility of signing a new extension. Zifa president Cuthbert Dube has indicated that there is a possibility that Pagels will sign a new contract. Pagels’ contract with the national team runs out at the end of the month. This uncertain future may be detrimental to the hopes of Zimbabwe doing well in the next few tournaments.
Pagels also revealed that he has signed a six-month contract with a school in Germany and he would be returning to his native country in order to start work soon. Pagels has been trying to revolutionise Zimbabwe by bringing in players who are already playing in Europe. This has had mixed results in the last few months. Recent successes in friendly matches against the likes of Malawi and Lesotho have been overshadowed by disappointments against the likes of Zambia and Egypt in key matches. Zimbabwe are currently bottom of the World Cup qualifying group after having taken just one point from the five matches.
“We are still talking. We discussed the issue with Zifa this week, but we didn’t finalise so I cannot say it’s all over. I might stay longer or I might not. I am going to the Cosafa tournament right now and I might also be going to Mauritius for the African Cup of Nations Championships (CHAN) tournament. I signed a six-month contract and after the CHAN match, there is just the 2014 World Cup qualifier against Mozambique. My contract with the school will also be coming to an end so I can’t say much because we are still talking with Zifa,” said Pagels.