adminDeMbare qualified from the preliminary round courtesy of a 3-1 victory over Lesotho Correctional Services despite surprisingly losing their last game. The Glamour Boys are looking to pick up their pieces and put up a solid show ahead of the return leg scheduled for Rufaro in a fortnight.
The Glamour Boys appeared in good mood during their two training sessions at the Bsiri Stadium yesterday despite the unforgiving cold weather conditions prevailing in the North African country.
Sekete, who made his debut in the Champions League this year, said he is hoping for a new experience against Bizertin.
The midfielder believes they have good chances to do well against the hosts if they stick to their game plan.
“Honestly, I don’t have much knowledge about this team we are playing and I am also not actually sure about what to expect from this side,” said Sekete. “In fact, this is my first time to play against a North African side and what I am sure about is that we are very much prepared for them. It’s good that we are starting away and, hopefully, we should get a positive result so that we finish them in the return leg at home. What we would want here is a win although a draw will be okay. But losing is out of question because it will not do us any good.”
He said it was important for DeMbare to ensure they won’t lump themselves with pressure ahead of the home tie.
“It would mean pressure in the second leg (if they lost), so we wouldn’t want it to be like that,” said Sekete. “We will do our best here although it doesn’t appear to be an easy task.”
DeMbare are looking to progress to the second round where they might face defending champions Al Ahly who have a date Kenya outfit Tusker this weekend.
Although North African teams have given Dynamos rough experiences in the past, Callisto Pasuwa’s men are refusing to bury their hands in the sands of these beaches.
Dynamos disappointed in the last two seasons where they failed to progress to the mini-league phase at the hands of MC Alger in 2011 and then in 2012 they were eliminated by Tunisian giants Esperance.
Sekete said DeMbare were not looking at those frustrations as they have set themselves a goal of reaching the group stages this year.
The midfielder said he will draw inspiration from his experience against Lesotho Correctional Service last month where DeMbare had carried a healthy 3-0 lead and went on to lose 0-1 in Maseru.
“It’s always tough playing people in their backyard but that should not be a deterrent,” said Sekete. “Although home advantage really matters in football, our aim is to go back with a good result. We have been talking about that as a team and the senior players like Murape, Tawanda Muparati and the coaches have been encouraging the boys to go out there and play our normal football.
“We all know these guys have the experience at this level and they have been doing a lot to motivate us for the task. Some of us are still new to Champions League football but I still feel we are very much prepared for this game.
“It’s a new challenge having to come to this part of this continent, though. We have played against Lesotho Correctional Services and we now know how it goes at this stage so we are just keeping focused.”
DeMbare who carried a largely unchanged side are looking to field virtually the same team that played in Lesotho but there have been concerns over the fitness of Muparati, who fractured his index finger, and Ocean Mushure who has an ankle problem.
Holding midfielder Devon Chafa is also being monitored closely by the medical staff as he has been suffering from a groin injury.
The hosts Bizertin, who are currently fourth in the Tunisian league, have hired former son Mondher Kbaeir as their new coach. Kbaeir, who was coaching top club Etoile du Sahel, returned to his old club to succeed Algerian Nourredine Saidi this week.
The Tunisians have also appointed a new goalkeeper’s coach, Mohamed Mhadhbi, following the departure of Adel Zouita to the national team.
Online Reporter