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Langton Nyakwenda
Sports Reporter
AFTER a fruitful and exciting week-long stay in Botswana on CAF Confederation Cup duty, domestic Premiership giants Dynamos are feeling the love in Gaborone.
Dynamos are now exploring opportunities to establish strong linkages with Gaborone giants Township Rollers, in a bid to commercialise and monetise the club’s dormant but powerful brand.
Township Rollers, who are Botswana’s most successful club with 16 league titles, are owned by a Zimbabwean businessman, Tendani Sebata.
Sebata acquired an 80 percent stake in the club in June and he has also revealed plans to extend his football business empire to Zimbabwe if an opportunity arises.
The Beitbridge-born businessman was DeMbare’s main host at the Royal Arena in Gaborone, where the Harare giants enjoyed state-of-the-art training facilities and hospitality ahead of their Confederation Cup preliminary round, first leg fixture against ZESCO United of Zambia.
After the match which Dynamos won 1-0, Sebata then hosted an evening reception for both clubs’ executive members on Sunday, a few hours after midfielder Tanaka Shandirwa’s 30th-minute header had settled matters on the pitch at Botswana’s National Stadium.
It was at this banquet that avenues for further cooperation between Township Rollers and Dynamos were explored.
“We took the time to engage, share notes, and explore possible opportunities of further cementing our newly-found relationship,” Dynamos chairman, Moses Maunganidze, told Zimpapers Sports hub from Gaborone yesterday.
“By our brother Sebata being Zimbabwean, we felt at home when he shared with us his vision for Township Rollers and his road to the helm.
“And we also reflected on Dynamos as a flagship club in Zimbabwe, and pledged not to live in the glory of the past but to have a quick mindset review and focus on how best we can monetise these two brands,” added Maunganidze.
Sebata has strong business links in Botswana, South Africa, and Europe.
“He (Sebata) shared with us his linkages, but from a sporting perspective and also a commercial perspective.
“So, we cherished this opportunity, as we also shared our challenges and plans.
“We are motivated by the future, because what we shared was exciting in terms of possible linkages, possible exchanges, in terms of personnel so that we visit each other for benchmarking and also ride on whoever has the best opportunities,” said Maunganidze.
Sebata was impressed with some Dynamos players and is hoping the relationship between his club and DeMbare “will bear more fruits.”
“We discussed a lot of issues and we should continue with the plans and see how best we can move forward,” Sebata said.
He added: “There’s good talent in Dynamos.”
Apart from scoring the goal that made all the difference, Shandirwa had an outstanding game for Dynamos.
Thrust in a more advanced role by coach Lloyd “MaBlanyo” Chigowe, Shandirwa headed home a fine cross from the right to give Dynamos the advantage heading into this weekend’s return leg. ZESCO will now host Dynamos at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium in Ndola on Saturday.
“Our stay in Botswana was exciting but we are leaving on Thursday (tomorrow) for Ndola.
“We are housed at the Royal Arena, the best multiplex centre in Gaborone, courtesy of Sakunda Holdings and the discounted benefits we accrued through Sebata.”
Dynamos have one foot into the next round but Maunganidze is praying for composure from his players. “We have not yet started celebrating our victory over ZESCO United, because we have said to ourselves the 1-0 victory on Sunday was a first-half result and we are finishing the second half in Zambia.
“So, it is the second half that will decide the extent of our celebrations based on the outcome, but we look forward to winning.”
Dynamos are making a return to Africa after a 10-year hiatus and are now well poised to progress to the next preliminary round of the Confederation Cup.
Should they sail past ZESCO, DeMbare will play either Botswana representatives Orapa United or Foresters of Seychelles.
The two sides are delicately balanced after they drew 1-1 in a first-leg tie in Seychelles last weekend. Maunganidze was also happy to note that Dynamos have put some of the troubles that had been haunting their dressing room behind. “I want to assure the Dynamos fans that the boys are polished and in terms of motivation they are okay.
“They are aware of what lies ahead, the coaches are aware of what lies ahead.
“It’s not going to be a stroll in the park, we know they (ZESCO) may employ dirty tactics on the park, or just even before the match, whatever it is, so we are dealing with the mental strength of the boys.
“This is a test of exactly what they were being told when they joined Dynamos.
“That when we get into Africa we are into proper battles.
“So, we look forward to a very good game albeit in very tough conditions, but this is what defines Dynamos,” added Maunganidze.
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