Chronicle Editor
Dingilizwe Ntuli, Sports Editor
ALTHOUGH the absence of fans at the country’s stadia for the Chibuku Super Cup on Saturday and Sunday, it has levelled the playing field for every team involved.
Fans give players that extra confidence and create intensified conditions that energise players and their lockout will most definitely affect traditional crowd pullers like Highlanders, Dynamos, Caps United and FC Platinum, especially when playing at home.
The four teams draw sizeable crowds and playing in stadia that normally hold thousands of fans lying empty will subtract the 12th man effect and give the smaller teams the confidence of matching them toe to toe with the usually intimidating atmosphere created by home fans.
With the intimidation factor taken away from the ‘Big Four’, it could be advantage to the teams that attract smaller spectators, with only football doing the talking on the pitch and not worrying about what’s going on in the stands.
In this Covid-19 era, it is quite clear that without supporters in the stadium, the big teams won’t have the advantage like they are previously used to.
The only form of support for every team will come from the substitutes’ bench and technical staff and opening matches will initially feel like preseason friendlies, as players adjust to the new reality of echoes of their voices before empty stands.
Today Bulawayo City take on Chicken Inn in the opening Pool 2 Chibuku Super Cup match at Barbourfields Stadium, but it is tomorrow’s game between Highlanders and Bulawayo Chiefs that will be of much interest.
Not that the City and Gamecocks’ game is of no significance, but because they are used to playing before buoyant crowds at Barbourfields Stadium that instils the fear factor in their opponents.
For Bosso, Barbourfields Stadium without fans is just a stadium and that can be a huge detriment to player performances, as it removes the aura associated with the venue and doesn’t frighten the opponents.
Can Bosso players deal with motivational shortfalls of playing in near silence without feeding off the energy of the crowd in the infamous Soweto and Empankweni stands?
Bosso players will find it strange to be greeted by an eerie silence from the Soweto and Empankweni stands when they emerge from the tunnel for their pre-match warm up, and they might even have to remind themselves that the game itself is not a preseason friendly.
Players have to generate their own energy without vocal backing they had become accustomed to in previous seasons, but it will now boil down to self-motivation and coaches’ tactics to win matches. Playing to the gallery will be of no use.
Perhaps players will appreciate the importance of fans in football after sweating it out with no once cheering them on.
Online Reporter