By Farayi Mungazi

Zaki's sudden departure may have driven another nail in the coffin of African coaches

The Moroccans have finally got their man, so you can raise a glass and toast the new Atlas Lions coach if you please.

Frenchman Philippe Troussier's appointment should be a cause for celebration, right?

Not at all, if you ask me. I am utterly bewildered by it.

Officially, Badou Zaki, the man replaced by Troussier, was not pushed but walked of his own accord after Morocco's failure to qualify for next year's World Cup finals in Germany.

Did anyone persuade him to stay on? This is a man who took over as head coach in 2002 - when the Atlas Lions were going nowhere fast - and has radically transformed the team.

The 1986 African Footballer of the Year led Morocco to the final of the 2004 Cup of Nations, qualified them for the 2006 edition in Egypt and narrowly missed out on World Cup qualification.

Zaki's contract was not due to expire until February. But whispers abound that he threw in the towel after officials, hell-bent on hiring a foreign coach, made his job untenable.

Parting company with Zaki may, or may not, have increased Morocco's chances of winning the next Nations Cup.

Only time will tell. In the meantime, the core issue is not what happens at Egypt 2006, but what happens in the years beyond.

Zaki is gone, but the larger question remains as to whether he has taken the hopes of Morocco's home-grown coaches with him.

I have nothing against Troussier, but I fear Zaki's sudden departure may have driven another nail in the coffin of African coaches keen to make their mark on their own continent.

As a Zimbabwean, I should know a thing or two about this subject!

For more than two decades, my country employed foreign coaches on huge salaries but none of them managed to take us to the finals of Africa's top football event.

Guess who eventually took the Warriors to the promised land in 2004? Sunday Marimo. Nationality? Zimbabwean.

It is an irony that Marimo was only given the job because the Zimbabwe Football Association could not afford to hire a foreigner.

The continent's football has been held back by an unhealthy attachment to coaches from Europe and South America

Opposition to foreign coaches tends to be clouded, subliminally or otherwise, by nationalist sentiments but not in my case.

As an outsider, I believe the Moroccans gave up too soon on a highly promising home-grown manager in Zaki.

There is a possibility, put it no higher than that, that the former international goalkeeper paid the price for putting too much wind up those with a seemingly inherent aversion to local coaches.

Granted, most African coaches are not as qualified as their foreign counterparts. But I think it is preposterous that people continue to hold on to the belief that only foreigners are good for African teams.

If being European is the criteria for being a good coach, then what about the likes of Stephen Keshi, Kalusha Bwalya, Luis Oliveira Gon�alves and Charles Mhlauri?

These are African-born trainers having success where Europeans, often employed at great cost, have failed.

Instead of breaking the bank to pay foreigners, why not treat local coaches with a little more respect?

At the risk of being accused of having an insular mentality barring foreign involvement in the African game, I have to say the continent's football has been held back by an unhealthy attachment to coaches from Europe and South America.