FCP fall short again

Eddie Chikamhi-Senior Sports Reporter

THE writing was always on the wall for FC Platinum who were knocked out of the CAF Champions League by Angolan side GD Sagrada in the preliminary round at the National Sports Stadium on Saturday.

The Zimbabwean representatives crashed out at the first hurdle following a 4-5 penalty lottery loss in the second leg. Both teams had played a total of 180 minutes without finding the back of the nets in open play.

Forward Rodwell Chinyengetere was the ultimate Fall Guy on Saturday for missing the opening spot kick during the tie-break. But FC Platinum’s woes had started way before.

FC Platinum, who won the last three domestic league titles, were hand-picked to represent Zimbabwe for the second time in the tournament since there was no competitive football in Zimbabwe last year to determine the country’s flag-bearers on the continent.

The Zvishavane side were hoping to build from the results from the last edition when they ran out 4-1 aggregate winners over Mozambican side Costa do Sol in the preliminary round before falling to Tanzanian giants Simba SC in controversial circumstances in the first round. But the platinum miners this time found the going tough and coach Norman Mapeza refused to fault his players for the defeat in a post-match interview.

Mapeza, who was recently appointed interim national team coach, also knew the spotlight was on him as he hoped to conjure up a positive result against a difficult background at home.

However, the former Zimbabwe international said poor preparation, because of the Covid-19 lockdowns, contributed largely to the team’s fate. FC Platinum had only three weeks to work on their team, after getting the greenlight from the Sports Commission late under the Covid-19 lockdown rules, and needed to put maximum effort if they had hoped for better results.

But it was going to be difficult as the effects of the inactivity in the last two years were always going to catch up.

Unlike their opponents who recently wrapped up a successful season as champions of Angola, Zimbabwean teams have not played regular football of late as there has been no Premiership football in the country for over 20 months due to Covid-19. Mapeza believes his charges, who were involved in a few Chibuku Super Cup games during the winter, put up brave performances against such a gloomy background. The platinum miners even missed some good scoring opportunities on Saturday.

“We had opportunities especially in the first half, and in the last minutes of the game but we failed to convert our chances. But it was much better than what we did in Angola.

“We never had any chances in Angola but today there was a little bit of creativity. You can see the majority of these guys are still new, so there is still a bit of time to work, then we can improve,” he said.

“That sharpness was always missing, we played some training games around and I could tell that sharpness was missing. So the sharpness wasn’t there because of inactivity.

“But the guys worked so hard and I want to give them credit. They worked so hard considering where we are coming from, we haven’t played football for quite some time.

“I am proud of the boys, they worked so hard, it’s unfortunate losing on penalties is like a lottery anything can happen but I am proud of the boys,” said Mapeza.

FC Platinum have now played in six Champions League editions but they are yet to make an impact in Africa despite their dominance at home. They have managed to make the group stage twice but on both appearances returned home winless. The Zvishavane side has found the going tough on the continent. This time they had to leave without scoring a goal. Questions have often been asked about the quality of their players when it comes to continental competitions.

The platinum miners appeared comfortable with their squad ahead of the start of the new campaign. They had a few additions at the start of the year but it was mostly recycling of players who have failed at the big stage.

And, the return of players such as Donald Ngoma, Rodwell Chinyengetere, goalkeeper Wallace Magalane and former Dynamos defender Blessing Moyo has not improved their fortunes in Africa.