Caps in do-or-die Caf hurdle

Eddie Chikamhi, Harare Bureau
CAPS United believe they can put behind them a tumultuous week and cheer the spirits of their fans, in particular, and Zimbabwean football, in general, by slaying one of the continent’s ultimate giants Zamalek in a Caf Champions League showdown at the National Sports Stadium tomorrow.

Makepekepe, who are playing in the group stage for the first time, face a do-or-die game in which anything short of victory will be disastrous and will spell the end of their romance in the continent’s premier inter-club football tournament.

The Green Machine, who are coming from back-to-back defeats against Libyan side Al Ahli, were in high spirits during their training session at Alex Sports Club yesterday where influential forward Tafadzwa Rusike paraded a silver Mercedes Benz E320 vehicle the club purchased for him.

Reports have suggested there is turmoil in the Green Machine camp but club president Farai Jere said most of the reports are unfounded and were being fuelled by those who don’t want to see his club write successful stories.

“If just having half of your salary being unpaid is a crisis, in this environment that we are operating in, then I don’t know if you understand what the word crisis means,’’ Jere said.

“The reality is that, as Caps United, we have done far better, in terms of the welfare of our players and technical staff than most of our opponents in this country.

“Of course, we understand that there are some people who don’t want to see us succeeding but that should not worry us because that is the way life is.

“We have signed some foreign players and we haven’t forgotten to take care of those who have taken us here and as you can see, that is the beautiful car we have helped Tafadzwa acquire and that should tell you a lot about what we are doing in terms of taking care of the welfare of our boys.

“Morale right now is high in camp and you can only see it by coming here to the training ground and these boys have shown, again and again, when playing against big teams that they can rise to the occasion and that is why we believe on Sunday they will come good.’’

Caps United have done well against the giants, eliminating five-time champions TP Mazembe and beating USM Alger of Algeria, but the players seem to lose their concentration when playing against the minnows.

“That is correct and it’s something the coach has been addressing with his players and just watch how we will respond against Zamalek because, for us, this is the biggest game we have played so far as winning it will keep us in the tournament until the final round of fixtures which we also believe we can win away in Algeria,’’ said Jere.

“Our appeal is to the entire football family in this country to come and support us, the way they came and supported us against TP Mazembe, and we can assure them we will not let them down.