Online Reporter
Veronica Gwaze-Zimpapers Sports Hub
WHEN Dynamos survived the Premier Soccer League relegation last week, ordinarily they were expected to celebrate the great escape wildly.
The Harare giants had collected an all-important point against FC Platinum at Rufaro to survive the dreaded chop which had almost become a reality for them in the just-ended campaign.
For many, this was supposed to be a day of celebration festivities, having secured a spot for the coming season in top-flight.
Yet the Kelvin Kaindu men shelved that.
Kaindu and his team had agreed that there would be no wild celebrations after relegation survival.
Instead, they were reserving their celebrations for the Chibuku Super Cup, a prestigious tournament they were to feature in the final just six days later.
The confidence Kaindu had was surprising. Unbeknown to them, a prophecy led the gaffer.
“We agreed that we would not celebrate, we reserved our celebrations for the Chibuku Cup because this was more important,” said Kaindu, adding this was the remaining piece to the puzzle.
DeMbare played Triangle at Gibbo on Saturday, and the rest is history. Enasio Jnr Perezo will leave to tell the story.
It is until then that DeMbare finally burst into a frenzy and remembered how it feels to truly celebrate.
The prophecy had come full circle.
“Dynamos are a big club, we cannot be celebrating relegation, big clubs should never find themselves in relegation in the first place, so there is nothing to celebrate although we do appreciate everyone’s effort,” said coach Kaindu.
But for Chibuku, they did go wild.
Despite odds going against them coming into the Cup final, Kaindu insisted that his team would win and retain it.
Dynamos had not won against Triangle at Gibbo for years, further the Harare giants had missed training during the preparation week after embarking on industrial action over unpaid dues.
While the hosts chased a second Cup title after winning it for the first time back in 2018 when they beat Harare City 2-0 at Gibbo, DeMbare made it three in three years.
But based on their chaotic preparations, it would have been easy to give it away to Triangle.
“Our history with them is not pleasing, especially when they play at home, so we simply had to focus on our game and be as solid,” he added.
“This was one of our worst games since I joined the team but when God has your back, you win even on your worst day; this is God’s grace.
“I knew that we had it in us, God had spoken and he has fulfilled so the least we can do as a team is to give credit and thanks to him for guiding us to history.”
Interestingly, the coach said in his Dynamos media training day interviews that his intentions were for the team to win the Cup in 90 minutes of open play.
That he delivered too.
For the first time in this competition this year, they (Dynamos) remembered how to win in regulation time.
Kaindu, a known man of faith admits that his confidence of Dynamos surviving relegation and retaining their Cup title was written on the wall — a prophecy he received from a fellow prophet.
And when Dynamos and their fans burst into celebrations at Gibbo after making history by being the first team to win the Cup three times consecutively, for Kaindu, that word had come to pass.
“When an offer to join Dynamos came, three or four other clubs also wanted me but God said Dynamos was the next destination,” he said.
“I know there was a lot of talk, many wondered why I opted for DeMbare but I am a firm believer . . . ”
“By God’s grace we would survive relegation and retain our Cup but it would be a matter of time for everyone else to understand where I was coming from with my decision,” he said.
