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Tadious Manyepo-Sports Reporter
DYNAMOS are enjoying their CAF Confederation Cup ride and they are keen to experience the same feeling next term by once again winning the Chibuku Super Cup this year.
The Glamour Boys got the licence to represent the country in the second-tier continental club championship after capturing the country’s premium knock-out tournament by beating Ngezi Platinum Stars 2-0 in the final.
They are now just 180 minutes away from rolling into the group stages of the continental championship as they face-off against Botswana’s Orapa United in the second and decisive preliminary round at the Obedi Itani Chilume Stadium.
Dynamos will have to find a way past Yadah after they were paired against the churchmen in the quarter-finals at a draw held in Harare yesterday.
Yadah have been one of Dynamos’ trickiest opponents over the years and they know they should battle hard to get past the hurdle.
With no seeded teams in the draw, the first four teams picked out of the hat got the privilege of playing at home with the dates and venues scheduled to be announced by the Premier Soccer League next week.
And Dynamos were out of the hat first with Yadah later on drawn to face the Harare giants.
Dynamos chief executive Jonathan Mashingaidze acknowledged that Yadah are tough opponents, but reckons that DeMbare will be out to get past them.
“We take it as a fair draw, a draw that could bring the best out of the defending champions.
“We think playing against Yadah is fair just like how it could have been had we been drawn against any other team,” said Mashingaidze.
“As Dynamos, we were always ready for any team who would bring 11 players on the field of play. Yadah have been our bogey side since their arrival on the top-flight platform. We definitely don’t need to relax. We should take our opponents seriously.”
There are even more interesting match-ups in the last eight of the tournament with Highlanders drawn against Premiership log leaders Simba Bhora and CAPS United set to battle Ngezi Platinum Stars and FC Platinum and Manica Diamonds on each other’s way.
There was so much talk over the manner in which Simba Bhora and Highlanders’ league match at Wadzanayi was handled last month which the home team won 2-1.
And Highlanders vice-chairman Fiso Siziba said he didn’t want to create any tensions or evoke emotions but his team had some unfinished business in Shamva.
“We are confident and had it been any other team, the attitude would have been the same. Realistically, the Chibuku Super Cup is something which is here to play for.
“We are putting up our hand for it. It’s only two games away from the final and we need to be there,” said Siziba.
“We feel that whatever we didn’t do right at Wadzanayi in the league, we can do it now. Without creating any tension, but realistically we feel we have got unfinished business against Simba Bhora”.
CAPS United captain Godknows Murwira said Makepekepe were ready for Ngezi Platinum Stars although he knows the former Chibuku Super Cup winners will be difficult to beat.
“We welcome the draw and we are ready to go. We will need to be very alert because Ngezi Platinum Stars are no easy opponents. They have picked some experience playing in Africa in the CAF Champions League and they will be eager to dominate,” said Murwira.
“But, as CAPS United, we are ready for action. We were ready to play anyone in the last eight and we got Ngezi Platinum Stars. We just need to be focused and keep our eyes on the ball”.
Quarter Final draw
Dynamos v Yadah, Simba Bhora v Highlanders, Ngezi Platinum v CAPS United, Manica Diamonds v FC Platinum
Online Reporter