AFTER firing blanks in a tricky Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League preliminary round first leg fixture against Lioli FC in Maseru last week, CAPS United coach Lloyd Chitembwe reckons he will not miss last season top scorer Leonard Tsipa in the second leg encounter set for the National Sports Stadium this afternoon.
BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE
The Zimbabwean champions are believed to have registered the 2016 league top scorer in their initial squad only to deregister the then out of contract striker in January thinking the player would not stay at the club after he reportedly went Awol.
And in their first competitive fixture without him on the African safari, they were wasteful in front of goal against the little-known Lesotho club
However, Chitembwe believes Tsipa’s exploits were down to the whole team and anybody could feel his void. “You cannot tone down his [Tsipa] contribution last season, but I feel it was down to the contribution by the entire team. I just hope whoever is given the opportunity to play will do exactly what Tsipa was doing last year and it is my hope that the team will help that person as much as they helped Tsipa last year,” he told reporters ahead of today’s crucial encounter.
While it is understood that Tsipa was among the first 12 players Chitembwe recommended in his Champions League squad in December, the former CAPS United midfield hard man may get the chance to register the striker if the team remains in the competition until July.
Chitembwe said he was happy with the result the team got in the first leg and now had a plan of how to play the visitors.
“For the boys to get that result, I thought it was brilliant and you cannot fault them for the effort and the desire to want to do well. We now know them and we have a plan to play the way we want to play. I’m happy with the way things have shaped up and we can’t wait to see how things will unfold on Sunday [today],” he said.
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Should CAPS United progress to the next round, they will face former champions TP Mazembe for a ticket to the group stages. Makepekepe have never progressed beyond the second round of the continental Cup competition.
The CAPS United gaffer dismissed the notion that his team would be under pressure to overcome Lioli this afternoon.
“I have had almost 20 years of playing and almost 10 years coaching, so the situation has always been much different and sometimes much bigger than the one we are facing,” he said.
“As far as pressure is concerned, that’s our responsibility to make sure we deal with that, but what’s more important for us is the desire to want to do well that is key.”
After missing the services of Joel Ngozo and Kudzai Nyamupfukudza in the last minute of an improper registration debacle, the two will be back in the team and possibly in the starting
line-up after their paperwork was sorted earlier this week and they have been cleared to play.
Chitembwe also boasts of a clean bill of health as he announced the return to full fitness of defender Ronald Pfumbidzai and speedy winger Phineas Bhamusi, who both limped off in Maseru last week.
For their first 2017 CAF Champions League home encounter, CAPS United have pegged the gate charges at $3 for the cheapest ticket, $5 for the VIP section and $10 for the VVIP.
