adminThe historic match will mark the first time that a Champions League encounter has been played, away from either Harare or Bulawayo, in this country.
Despite losing 2-4 at home to FC Platinum, the Swazi champions arrived here yesterday with a promise to turn the tables on their Zimbabwean opponents.
Green Mamba travelled by road and will be camped in Masvingo before their encounter against FC Platinum.
The Green Mamba head of delegation, Phumuza Ntsangaase, said they were here for a battle royale.
“Our fans are leaving Swaziland today and arriving here on Friday morning and they will be using two big buses,” said Ntsangaase. “We want to make so much noise that FC Platinum will think they are playing in Swaziland.
“We are expecting about 140 fans and there are a lot of our supporters who are also driving to come and watch this match and we want to take full control.
“Our intention is to take over the show because that is the only thing that will take us to the next round.
“We were working on our team after the embarrassing defeat and we have been seeing a lot of positives from the players and our coach and we are very confident that we are going to turn things around and shock our hosts.
“Football, being football, is hard to predict but we are confident that we are going to win on Saturday because our fans can’t travel all the way for a loss. It’s a very long trip to come for a disappointment and if we lose it will be unfair to them.”
The team arrived at the Beitbridge border post shortly after midnight aboard a hired luxury coach in a journey which took them about nine hours.
“We spent about 5 hours at the Zimbabwean border and it’s more like we slept in the bus. We were taken up and down by the customs and immigration officers and, after the hassles, we were met by a person from Zifa who welcomed us and we were very happy,” said Ntshangaase.
Thadious Machawira, the Zifa Eastern Region Administrator, met the Green Mamba delegation at the border post.
“We arrived in Masvingo at 9am and we had breakfast. We are very happy with the accommodation and food,” said Ntshangaase.
The delegation comprises of 32 people, including 18 players, and among the officials is Sipho Magagula who is the National Director of Sport in the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs.
“Our Zimbabwean guys Stanford (Ncube), Zondai and our captain Msholozi (Mdluli), a central defender who is very inspirational, should carry the day for us in our mission,” said Bongani Khumalo, the Green Mamba secretary-general.
“If it was an impossible task we would not have bothered to come here.”
FC Platinum declared that they are ready to complete the mission by clearing the Champions League preliminary round hurdle erected by Green Mamba.
“We are very much prepared for this match and we need a positive result on Saturday,” said FC Platinum assistant coach, Tendai Chikuni.
“Green Mamba are a good team and they played well in the second half when we played them in their country.
“I want to concede that this is a new game and anything is possible. They are coming here to fight but we want to finish the job we started. We are not going to relax or give them too much respect. We are not so sure about who is going to be in as we are still assessing players with injuries.
“Three of our key players are nursing injuries. I am, however, very happy with the cup we won last Sunday as it was motivational to the team. Hwange gave us a good game and we will continue from were we left.
“I am happy that we will be having all the support we need at home from our fans and Zimbabweans who will come and watch the match and we do not need to let anybody down.”
Former Masvingo midfielder, Hardlife Mavundi, pulled a muscle last week and was not part of the team that lifted the Bob ‘88 Super Cup.
Hitman Donald “Dombo” Ngoma is unlikely to play on Saturday and midfielder, Allan Gahadzikwa, is still being assessed by the medical team.
Charles Sibanda will only arrive a day before the match after returning from national duty with the Warriors in Burundi.
Online Reporter