The first time was in 2011 when the Mighty Bulls were booted out of the Champions League by Ivory Coast’s Asec Mimosas after a penalty shoot-out at Rufaro.
The match was played over one leg as Ivory Coast was reeling under a civil war, so Mighty Bulls could not travel to the war-torn country.
On Sunday last week, the Mighty Bulls went through another shameful exit from the Confederation Cup when they allowed Black Leopards of South Africa to snatch an away 2-0 win and progress to the next stage of the competition.
The Mighty Bulls had done so well to force a 1-1 draw away in South Africa two weeks ago, only to come back home and allow Lidoda Duva to snatch a victory in their own backyard.
With the kind of sponsorship the Bulls were getting from Mbada Diamonds, which included winning bonuses for players and the technical team, a lot was expected from the Mighty Bulls.
The poor performance by Motor Action might have a bearing on the continental slots that we are supposed to get as Zimbabwe.
We should bear in mind that we owe it to Dynamos and Monomotapa who have played very well in the African Safari. DeMbare’s performance over the past years has seen Zimbabwe being given two slots in both the Champions League and the Confederation Cup.
But if local clubs continue to perform dismally as was done by Motor Action at Rufaro last weekend, we might end up losing other slots.
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Taking part in continental football is not only beneficial in terms of finance, but allows the players better exposure. If these players are spotted by other big clubs, their local clubs benefit financially while the national team also benefits.
Although Lidoda Duva played ordinary football like any other team in our local league, they were precise in front of goal when their chances came, thereby managing to score two goals.
Mighty Bulls coach Joey Antipas made four changes in his starting line up from the team that had played a one-all draw in South Africa. His major setback was the absence of defence stalwart Godfery Moyo who was injured during the Warriors training in preparation for the Burundi trip.
Moyo did not play in Burundi and he could not pass late a fitness test to play last Sunday. Tear-away winger Masimba Mambare sat on the bench while his team struggled as he was also injured during the week although he passed a late fitness test. His introduction in the second half however could not save the sinking ship.
On an afternoon that Bulls played a team that had two towering centre backs, every fan looked forward to Antipas giving his players an instruction that they should not flight high balls in the danger zone as the two centre backs were the first to have the bite of the cherry.
But even after the breather, Mighty Bulls midfielders Protasha Kabwe, Mambare and Ishmael Lawe continued to flight high balls that were easily intercepted by the two towering defenders with pint-sized Enasio Perezo a pale shadow of his former self. I think if Antipas had come up with a different attacking style, things would have gone better for him.
