Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
CAPS United president Farai Jere has decided to ignore sideshows already in motion ahead of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League Harare derby showdown against Dynamos at Rufaro on Sunday.
The former Premier Soccer League chairman has instead stayed calm and yesterday met with his team at their training venue to confirm he will more than double their US$500 winning bonus if they beat the Glamour Boys.
The first instalment of the 2026 duels of this famous derby, has generated a lot of interest given that the two Harare giants are performing well in the league right now.
The Green Machine are leading the Premiership standings with 22 points to their name, while Dynamos, on 17 points are fifth on the table after 10 games.
This is the first time in many years that the Harare derby will be played with both teams among the leading pack after almost a third of the season’s fixtures have been played.
However, both are coming from defeats from last weekend as Makepekepe lost 1-0 to Bulawayo Chiefs at Rufaro while Dynamos were on the receiving end of a 2-1 defeat by Chicken Inn at Barbourfields.
Yet both Dynamos coach Genesis Mangombe and CAPS United’s Takesure Chiragwi believe the defeats were the fuel they needed to boom in the historic derby. DeMbare are yet to lose a Premiership game at Rufaro in 10 months, and yesterday businessman Wicknell Chivayo casually promised to buy them team a bus if they beat CAPS United.
But Jere gave it a “no-look pass” when speaking to Zimpapers Sports Hub yesterday afternoon.
“This is one of our biggest games on our PSL calendar,” Jere said.
“CAPS United and Dynamos is a colossal fixture. The way we are looking at it is that we are playing against a team which is doing very well at the moment.
“I think in a long time this is one of the times we are playing with the two teams doing very well on the log.
“If Dynamos win this game, they are going to close the gap to within two points, and if we win, we are opening the gap between us and them further.
“There are a lot of things which you should look at when we are talking about this.
“We have seen a lot of Dynamos versus CAPS United matches played in our life-time and this one looks like it’s going to be one of the most exciting and interesting derbies of all time.
“We have played our part; the boys are motivated; they know the bonuses which they’re expecting in this match. Everything has been internally discussed with the players.
“There’s also something that I want our fans to know when they come. We need them to give the support to our boys knowing that so far Dynamos have gone for 10 months without a defeat at Rufaro Stadium.
“If you look at that and where they are on the log, it shows you that it’s not going to be an easy game. Ten months is a long-time and if they go for the next two months without any defeat that means it will now be a year.”
Jere said that the fact that Dynamos are doing well this season, the same as his team, means the derby can be back to its original taste and fans will be in for a big treat.
“Dynamos are a big club, they’re quite huge, and they need to be respected. We just need to treat them with a lot of respect, and we are approaching this game with that spirit.
“I think it will be an exciting game. CAPS United will be out to win it while Dynamos will get into it with the same spirit,” added Jere.
Jere can forget. There will never be exciting derbies between CAPS United and Dynamos that will come anywhere near that of the yesteryears when CAPS United had players like Stanley Ndunduma, Shacky Tauro, Friday Phiri, Joe Shambo, Size Torindo, Duncan Ellison etc and Dynamos had the likes of Gift Mpariwa, Moses Chunga, Kenneth Jere, Archieford Chimutanda, Vitalis Takawira, Sunday Chidzambwa, Japhet Mparutsa and others. Those were the TEAMS, not these Mickey Mouse groups of pretenders that Jere wants to promote.