CAPS United look to flex muscles against Ngezi

Tadious Manyepo-Sports Reporter

CASTLE Lager Premier Soccer League giants CAPS United are looking sharp but their credentials face an early assessment when they play Ngezi Platinum Stars at Baobab tomorrow.

The Green Machine had a booming start to the season at home last weekend after outplaying Manica Diamonds on their way to a 2-0 win that left them on top of the table.

They were on top of their game with a flawless display that had the full ingredients of a side that mean business.

But the Lloyd Chitembwe-coached club will have to carry the same mentality and physicality to Mhondoro if they are to maintain a 100 percent start to the term.

After all, the Green Machine have failed to beat Ngezi Platinum since 2017.

Only in 2016, the year Makepekepe won their last league title, were they able to beat their stocky opponents who are now under the guidance of their former player Takesure Chiragwi.

Winger Phenias Bamusi acknowledges Ngezi Platinum, who themselves started the season with a 1-1 draw away to Bulawayo Chiefs, are tricky opponents.

“Ngezi Platinum Stars are never easy opponents. Moreover they have always made life harder for us for the past five seasons. “The back-to-back statistics do not make for a good reading as far as CAPS United are concerned,” said Bamusi.

“We have always struggled and it’s been frustrating for us.

“Granted, in all those years, we have not been very strong as compared to them.

“But we don’t play in reverse. Everything is new at the moment. We have a strong team that’s capable of playing quality football. Everything is positive and we are also looking forward to getting a positive result.

“We know Ngezi Platinum Stars are not a small team. They have built their reputation well over the few years they have competed in the league.

“But it is those teams that you have to beat if you are to attain your goals as a team.

“We are a big team and we have big players who know exactly what needs to be done to produce the required results.”

Bamusi said besides coach Chitembwe’s quality leadership, the players themselves have all turned to be motivators in their own right.

“The excitement is real at CAPS United right now. We are all speaking the same language. We are not looking at anything beyond Saturday’s (tomorrow) match.

“All players know what it means to be at CAPS United; so everyone has turned into a motivator, uplifting each other on and off the field of play.

“The hunger is evident and all of us want to succeed. So the match against Ngezi Platinum Stars will guide us on what we need to do going forward.

“We are going to Mhondoro with a positive mind. 

“We need to put in the work, play as we have prepared and try to get the points. It is only by getting points that we can be able to achieve our targets regardless of the opponents.”

For Makepekepe new recruit Godknows Murwira, who has been embraced by the fans following his switch from Dynamos, playing against Ngezi Platinum Stars is in itself a huge opportunity to showcase himself again.

Murwira was at the Mhondoro club in 2018 before he moved to FC Platinum the season that followed.

He was, however, reduced into a training aid at the Zvishavane club before he rejoined Dynamos.

That was after the Ngezi Platinum Stars technical department refused to take him on board.

And now at a club playing with aplomb, Murwira will be out to showcase himself at a club which is still close to his heart.

“I respect Ngezi Platinum Stars a lot. They are my former employer and for that I will forever be grateful to them.

“But we mean business as CAPS United. We are going to Mhondoro with one thing in mind, which is to win,” said Murwira.

“We have started our campaign well after beating Manica Diamonds last week.

“We all know that what matters at the end of the day is momentum.

“If we play well in this match and fail to do as much in the other match, then we will be sure to fail in our mission.

“The best thing to do if you are a team with a big mission is just to get consistent results.

“Nomatter who we are playing, the goal is the same, we need to win.

“The match against Ngezi Platinum Stars will obviously be tough but all matches are going to be tough. How we apply ourselves will make the difference.”