adminEddie Chikamhi Sports Reporter
DYNAMOS vice-captain Tawanda Muparati marked his 30th birthday in an unusual way with his teammates yesterday as the Glamour Boys took time to ease the tension in their camp ahead of the impending clash with bitter rivals CAPS United in the Harare Derby at Rufaro this Sunday.
It was a low-key event with neither cakes nor presents on show, but plenty of gypsum white sand and water with which they smeared on the midfielder.
Club captain Murape Murape and newboy Victor Kamhuka were at the forefront, obviously trying to raise the morale of the boys in their camp.
It was fun for everyone at the end of the day but, more importantly, the Dynamos players will not be tempted to close their eyes to the crucial assignment that lies ahead.
The defending champions will be without their versatile player, Thomas Magorimbo, who is out on suspension for accumulating three yellow cards.
CAPS United’s Anorld Chivheya also faces a similar fate.
But Muparati, who has been a key figure in the recent meetings between the two sides, yesterday said they were expecting a tough outing this time around, despite their dominance over the Green Machine in recent years.
“We are all in a good mood and I would like to thank God for all his blessings to me up to this day. Today (yesterday) is my birthday and these guys have acted weird but that is how everyone else is treated here on their birthday.
“So, we are just enjoying ourselves today (yesterday) and the weekend game is another issue which we hope will put the icing on the cake. Hopefully, we are going to win and then have proper celebrations afterwards,” said Muparati.
Dynamos are currently on top of the log table with 38 points, three better than their opponents, and a win on Sunday would give them the cushion they need in the final lap of the championship race.
DeMbare will also be praying that Harare City and Highlanders also drop some big points in the final countdown.
City have the same number of points as Dynamos and the two teams are only separated by goal difference on the log table while Highlanders are lurking in third place just one point off the pace.
City have a tricky outing away to Gishon Ntini’s Triangle while Highlanders will be involved in a Bulawayo derby with newcomers How Mine who shocked them in the first leg when they cooked up to a 2-1 win coming from behind.
There are still 10 games remaining in the season and a defeat for DeMbare would blow the race wide open. Muparati said they will not take Makapekepe lightly judging by the way they have been playing under Taurai Mangwiro and Saul Chaminuka.
“CAPS have been playing well of late and going for 10 games unbeaten shows how determined they are this year.
“Obviously, they are looking for a change of fortunes in this game against us but we are doing our best in preparations since we also want to win it.
“We are looking at the bigger picture, which is winning the championship so we are going to give it our best on Sunday,” said Muparati.
Dynamos coach Callisto Pasuwa concurred with his player and urged his team to be positive in their approach.
Pasuwa, who is also the Warriors assistant coach, could not travel with the national team for their international friendly against South Africa as he had to focus on the assignment following the 3-1 win over Harare City last week which propelled them to the top of the table.
Pasuwa believes CAPS United are a side in a “dangerous” state following a good run of results.
“All I can say to the boys at the moment is that here is CAPS United for you. We are trying to have a winning mentality. We have been talking in detail about the issue of attitude and complacency.
“We also talked about history and how history cannot win you games if you don’t apply yourselves well. History is history and we cannot talk about that now. We will try as much as we can to impress it upon the players at all our training sessions this week because there is a danger of taking things lightly.
“Of course, we have been enjoying some success against CAPS United in the last few seasons but I think we shouldn’t base our approach on that.
“I believe they are very dangerous at this point, having gone for 10 games unbeaten and with the determination to win against us we should not expect an easy game.
“They have been playing well of late and if we just rewind to our last league meeting, it was a close encounter and you could see the fighting spirit on their part.
“So we need to be positive, everyone including the administration. The next three to five games are very important and we would need to collect points,” said Pasuwa.
DeMbare will be waiting to hear from the team doctors concerning the fitness of Farai Mupasiri who is nursing a shin problem, Clive Kawinga with a knock on the ankle and Muparati who picked up a shoulder injury during the national team’s World Cup qualifier against Mozambique at the weekend.
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