Online Reporter
Tadious Manyepo
Zimpapers Sports Hub
CAPS United coach Takesure Chiragwi has experienced first-hand the helter-skelter of the Premier Soccer League Harare derby as a player.
The former Ngezi Platinum Stars mentor still remembers those battles against Dynamos when he was right in the heat of things as a Makepekepe left-back.
He won some battles and lost others but the memories still linger for one of the players who then transformed into one of the finest young coaches in the local Premiership at the moment.
On Sunday, Chiragwi will stand on the dugout in the famous derby showdown for the first time as a coach.
He has achieved a lot of great things leading clubs like Shabanie Mine and Ngezi, winning the 2023 league championship.
Chiragwi, however, knows that leading CAPS United in the biggest match in the capital has its pressures.
He returned to his Makepekepe roots, having been lured back at the start of this year, and the Green Machine are rolling well in a season that has proved to have so much competition in only 10 match-days.
Perhaps the good thing is that CAPS United have been leading the standings right from the opening day, and the result against Dynamos on Sunday can have a huge bearing on that given they are only a point above second-placed Hardrock and two ahead of Ngezi.
“Well, you know, it’s always good to play against Dynamos, and I could understand the feeling, I could understand the zeal, the hunger to play against those teams back in my days as a player,” said Chiragwi.
“If I look back during my playing days, that day or that week, I wouldn’t want the motivation from anyone, even from the coach.
“It was only the motivation for myself to say the star is going to be born on Sunday or on Saturday.
“Then by that day, getting the opportunity, I could rise to the occasion. I remember so many games that I managed to do well.
“And I also shared that experience with the players and also with my colleagues, Ian Bakala and Joseph Kamwendo, who were also a part of that at some point.
“It kept us together. We also played in that derby. So, at the end of the day, it’s up to the players, and also, as a coach, it’s also good to make sure that we have got something to give back, and also the history that we have can also play a pivotal role to make sure that you motivate the players and make them understand from my own experience as a player.
“It’s easy to give that to the players because I know how it is, I know the feeling, and I know everything how it is. At the end of the day, I think it’s up to them to take everything that we are going to give them for them to deliver.”
Chiragwi’s charges are coming from a dispiriting 1-0 defeat at the hands of Bulawayo Chiefs last week.
“That defeat was necessary from the way I see it,” he said.
“We needed that kind of awakening given that we are going to play against one of our biggest rivals in the league, Dynamos.
“Now we go in there with the right kind of mentality knowing that even if we look stronger on paper, we can still be stopped by anyone in this competitive league.
“Football is football. It’s about how you want yourself to be remembered playing for these big teams. Like I’ve said, those are traditional teams in Zimbabwe, and those are the big clubs in Zimbabwe.
“So, whenever you’re playing for them, despite the challenges and everything, but when you’re playing for those clubs, it’s not about being talented.
“It’s not about talent alone. It’s about the spirit. It’s about the character. It’s about the desire, mostly, when you’re playing against those teams. It’s about a player with character to fight and make sure that on the day he wants to be the star and to be the winner.
“I think if they are geared up to make sure that they want to separate boys from men, those are the games that you can be counted. “And those are the games that can also carry your career forward. And those are the games that if you’re a player, can break you or make you a better player as you grow in your career.”
Chiragwi insisted that the showdown is largely about the players.
“At the end of the day, the responsibility goes to the players to make sure they demonstrate their skills and they demonstrate their zeal.
“They demonstrate their talent. They demonstrate their character.”
CAPS United have welcomed back to full fitness one of the best players in the land at the moment — Richard Hachiro — and Davison Marowa.
Marowa has been out for the past four weeks, while midfield workhorse Hachiro sat out the entire match against Bulawayo Chiefs as he wasn’t fully fit.
“I think we now have that boost after receiving back Marowa and Hachiro,” added Chiragwi.
“It’s always good to get into these kind of fixtures with all your players available for selection.
“The recoveries of Marowa and Hachiro is a welcome development.”
