Matchday One Explodes

By The Standard | Apr. 3, 2017

Castle Lager Premier Soccer League football is back. And the match of the week sees rising giants FC Platinum making the long trip to Harare to face fading giants Dynamos at the National Sports Stadium this afternoon.

By Munyaradzi Madzokere

The duel brings together two coaches who probably have axes hovering over their heads as they both sit on ultimatums from their respective clubs.

FC Platinum coach Norman Mapeza, who was given a war chest to strengthen his squad, has been asked to deliver the title to Zvishavane this season.

For his part, the Warriors caretaker coach is well aware of what is required of him.

“I am not a fortune teller, I can’t predict what is going to happen in the future. I believe every club in the league has a purpose to also win the league and that’s our aim this season,” he said during a press conference on Friday.

“The first five matches are very important to us and after the away Dynamos match, we have a home fixture to be followed by two away matches and if all goes well, we will get maximum points,” Mapeza added.

While he has largely retained the core of his team from last season, Mapeza bolstered his squad with four top signings in Brett Amidu, formerly with Dynamos, Talent Chawapiwa (ZPC Kariba), Gift Mbweti (Hwange) and Lawrence Mhlanga (Chicken Inn).

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Amidu should be ready for the Dembare “boo” boys as he returns to face his former club.

On the other hand, Dynamos coach Lloyd Mutasa has a 10-match ultimatum in which he is supposed to turnover 23 points and he begins the quest with a difficult home tie against last year’s league runners-up.

Mutasa has to make do with a weakened new-look side after losing several key players during the offseason.

“We would want to start off with a win. A positive result will obviously be good for us as an institution going forward. This first match will help us gauge ourselves as we look to do better this season,” he said.

His best bet is that remnants from the core of the class of 2016 that finished fifth in the league, including Masimba Mambare, Valentine Ndaba, Ocean Mushure and Stephen Chipunza, among others will step up their game.

A defeat for either of the two teams could mean pressure and probably spell a difficult season ahead.

FC Platinum have won only once in Harare against DeMbare and that victory came last year.

Same old CAPS United?

Defending champions CAPS United’s title-winning exploits last year were heavily punctuated by player strikes and sit-ins over salaries and winning bonuses. Eventually, players would just decide to pick up the tools and deliver results.

Classically, the beginning of CAPS United’s title defence with a match away to premier league returnees Shabanie Mine today was preceded by yet another strike over winning bonuses dating back from last season.

Lloyd Chitembwe’s charges only began training on Thursday after a week-long strike, but they are likely to steamroll past their opponents since they have been active in the CAF Champions’ League.

Chitembwe, who could not be drawn to comment on the challenges bedevilling the club, only bragged about the quality in his squad, just as he did last year.

“This season I have a special team. I see the hunger for success in their eyes. I want them to continue to improve because they must surpass what they did last year,” he said.

Bosso ready

Highlanders also begin their league campaign with a local derby against Bulawayo City this afternoon. Dutch coach Erol Akbay who helped Bosso to an impressive third place finish in his first season last year, reckons his team is stronger this year and ready for competition.

“We played against two big teams in this country – FC Platinum and CAPS United. Against FC Platinum we won 3-0 and against CAPS we drew 0-0, which means we created four points from two big teams. We are stronger than last year: last season the players had to adjust to my type of play but this year they know exactly what I want, which means we are ready,” he said.