adminwho are looking for players to beef up their squad, were at the National Sports Stadium yesterday.
Amatuks finished eighth in the Absa Premiership following their 1-0 victory against newly-crowned champions Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday.
But the newboys are definitely not resting and yesterday coach Steve Barker’s deputy was immediately dispatched to Zimbabwe to watch the match between CAPS United and Dynamos and identify some good players.
After watching the derby, which did not really explode into life, Matthews, who is the head of scouting and recruitment, said their visit had been fuelled by the exploits of the Zimbabweans at their club.
University of Pretoria is home to former Dynamos goalkeeper Washington Arubi and Lionell Mtizwa, who was on loan from neighbours Mamelodi Sundowns.
They also have a Zimbabwean in their technical team – goalkeeper’s coach Tendai Tanyanyiwa.
Matthews said the Harare Derby did not provide them with the best platform to identify talented players but they got to see a couple of good players.
“We need to strengthen our team and add more players. l have been here before and watched the match between Dynamos and a team from Tunisia.
“It was a better match to look at and assess players than today (yesterday), being a local derby it was quite tense. There were a couple of good players.
“We are looking at adding strikers and central defenders. We don’t want a goalkeeper as we have the best goalkeeper in South Africa at the moment.”
While the scout could not be drawn to reveal the player’s who caught their attention, he said he was impressed by CAPS United defender Arnold Chivheya and Dynamos vice-captain Tawanda Muparati who also caught his eye when he came in March for the Champions League tie.
“I cannot name the players that we are interested in, that is top secret. But the guy who impressed me last time l came (Dynamos number 4), also did well today (yesterday). But his position is not really a position we are looking at beefing up but he is a good player.
“The striker from Uganda who came in (Boban Ziruntusa) also did well. And CAPS United central defender who was wearing jersey number four also did very well,” said Matthews.
The scout said they have been charmed by the exploits of Arubi and believes there is still more quality from where the goalkeeper came from.
“Washington has done very well for the club and definitely we are looking at Zimbabwe and have more players from here.
“Lionell (Mtizwa) is going back to Sundowns, he was on loan and we don’t know what’s next, but he showed what he can do yesterday (match against Kaizer Chiefs) as he played well.
“Zimbabwean players have great history in South Africa Premiership and it is always the first call when looking for players.
“This year we wanted to survive relegation and we managed to finish in the top eight. So for us it was like winning a trophy.
“We are a small club with limited resources and we are very happy with the way we have finished our first season and we are now looking forward to another great season,” said Matthews.
Online Reporter