Dube, Msendami make Champions League debut

ZIMBABWEAN attacking midfielder Daniel Msendami and striker Cleopas Dube made their CAF Champions League debut for Jwaneng Galaxy at Gaborone’s National Sports Stadium on Sunday.

Also in action for the Botswana league champions was Nqobizitha Masuku.

Masuku has previous African Safari experience with FC Platinum.

In the match the Batswana side beat Ugandan champions Vipers 2-0 in their first leg of the Champions League preliminary round.

Msendami was introduced in the second half when the team was leading 1-0 after their serial scorer Thabang Sesinyi had put them ahead in the first half before completing his brace in the second half. The attacking midfielder had a fine outing and was happy to have made his debut in continental football. “I am so happy that I made my debut in the Champions League. It is a stage where you participate against the best teams and players in Africa,” Msendami said.

He was not the only Zimbabwean player that played in the match as Masuku was in the starting lineup and he had a strong performance in midfield.

Another Zimbabwean player Dube also played a part in the second half of the match as he was also introduced as a substitute.

“I am happy for the three of us. I am happy that we all played and had decent outing. It can never be easy at such a high stage but I am happy that Cleopas and Nqo showed their experience, which in turn will help me to improve as I am learning from them,” he said.

The Botswana side will travel to Uganda for the second leg of their preliminary round and the winner of the tie will take on South African giants Orlando Pirates in the next round of the competition.

CAF Champions League

First Preliminary Round Results

Jwaneng Galaxy (Botswana) 2-0 Vipers SC (Uganda), UD Songo (Mozambique) 1-0 Green Mamba (Lesotho), ASAS (Djibouti) 0-2 Young Africans (Tanzania), Premiero de Agosto (Angola) 1-0 Vita Club (DRC), Otoho (Congo Brazzaville) 1-1 Al-Merrikh (Libya), Dragon FC (Equatorial Guinea) 0-2 Nyasa Big Bullets (Malawi), Kara (Togo) 0-1 Asfar(Morocco), Medeama (Ghana) 1-0 Remo Stars (Nigeria), Haifa FC (Cote d’ Vore) 0-0 Generation Foot (Senegal), FC Nouadhibou ( Mauritania)n 2-0 Al Ahly Tripoli ( Libya), Al Ahly Benghazi (Libya) 4-3 Enyimba (Nigeria), Coton Sport (Benin) 0-0 ASEC Mimosas (Cote d’iVoire).