Two big matches in two of the country’s biggest cities, at two of the ceremonial homes of Zimbabwean football — Rufaro Stadium and Barbourfields Stadium — in matches none of the teams would like to lose.
BY MUNYARADZI MADZOKERE
It’s certainly a Super Sunday in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League today.
Dynamos, for the first time this season, occupy the top half of the log standings after a nightmarish start to the race that cost coach Lloyd Mutasa his job.
The Harare giants — currently ranked eighth on the log — are not yet out of the woods and will be looking to build on last weekend’s narrow victory over Bulawayo Chiefs when they host defending champions FC Platinum at Rufaro this afternoon.
It is a match in which Dynamos cannot afford to lose any more points, having already lost five times in 11 starts.
Soccer Star of the Year and FC Platinum midfielder Rodwell Chinyengetere is confident that the Zvishavane side will take home all the points.
“Playing Dynamos despite the results they have been getting in the past is a motivation on its own. We are prepared and we are raring to go,” Chinyengetere said ahead of the big tie.
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“We respect them, but we want points from them. We will do our best to bring maximum points from Harare.
“We are confident that we can win it.”
A defeat for DeMbare could just but vanquish any remote chances of winning the championship this year, yet for second-placed FC Platinum a win would ensure that they are within touching distance of log leaders Ngezi Platinum with five matches to the halfway stage of the season.
DeMbare interim coach Biggie Zuze has since declared his desire to win all the remaining matches until the end of the season.
But he is not taking the champions lightly.
“The boys are working hard and we hope for the best. I wish they could do what they did in the last match. FC Platinum are a very good team, very organised, so we have to manage the game.
“This is a new season with a new team, so we are ready for them,” Zuze said.
Zuze is buoyed by the return of captain Ocean Mushure as well as Raphael Manuvire into the fold while James Marufu is set to sit it out due to an injury.
Some 534km south-west of the capital, Barbourfields will be full to the brim as rebuilding Highlanders host wounded CAPS United, who have not won in their last three matches.
Already there have been muted dissenting voices calling for coach Lloyd Chitembwe’s head and a defeat for the Green Machine would add more pressure on the coach.
Chitembwe has asked for a response from his charges after two consecutive home defeats to Chicken Inn and Ngezi respectively.
“It’s natural that after losing a match like what we did against Ngezi Platinum last weekend, everyone at the team, including the supporters, get disappointed. The challenge is now with us to respond in a way that will make things go differently,” he said.
“All we need to do is make sure that we work for the result that we want.
“We are on the right track and we have a big task on our hands and there is no task that is not achievable.”
His Highlanders counterpart Madinda Ndlovu is not worried about CAPS United, but the performances of his team in the last couple of fixtures.
“We have not played our normal game in the past two games against ZPC Kariba and Yadah. I was on record saying that the team that played last week is not the team I coach because the performance was bad,” he said.
“We embarked on a programme to build a team for the future and bring in the flair of football that is accepted by the masses of the Bosso family. Games are getting tougher and exciting, hence we are asking our boys to stand up and fight like men.”
