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Paul Mundandi in ZVISHAVANE
HARARE giants CAPS United will be looking to atone for a troubled week with a win over hosts FC Platinum in the final of the Commander ZNA Charity Shield final at Mandava this afternoon.
The Green Machine were in the spotlight, for the wrong reasons, when the club struggled to secure funds needed for the team to travel to Bulawayo for a league tie against Bantu Rovers.
To their credit, the players battled their way to a draw, picking a big point, even though they played most of the match a man down after defender Stephen Makatuka was sent off.
Yesterday, club chairman Twine Phiri, said it was unfortunate that his club ended in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
“I was away in Botswana when this happened and I have spoken to the guys at the office and they say that everything was in order for the team to travel as scheduled,” Phiri said.
“Like all the clubs in the country, we have our financial challenges but we are not the worst of the lot and we have always made sure that we take care of our players.
“You can’t tell me that we fail to raise US$5 000 for the team to go to Bulawayo because, even if we didn’t have the money, the officials know that they can go and appeal to the PSL for a bailout and we can be given that facility because we have the capacity to generate that money in our forthcoming assignments.
“It’s a facility that has been extended to many teams in the past and it’s all about managing our clubs in a tough environment and that is why I don’t understand why it had come to stories coming out in the newspapers that our players were stranded.
“Our players are our biggest assets and we try to give them the best conditions that they can get, within our means, and it’s sad that our name ended up being tainted by what happened and it has the capacity of destroying what we are trying to build because the sponsors will walk away.”
Coach Taurai Mangwiro said he was eager to win the Cup they won last year when they beat Black Rhinos.
Makepekepe travelled straight to Zvishavane from Bulawayo and camped in Gweru ahead of the clash.
“We have been winning our matches, save for the draw against Bantu, we do not want to disturb our rhythm by losing to FC Platinum and I want to have something to show at the end of the season and the ZNA Charity Shield is one of the trophies,” said Mangwiro.
“We played Platinum in the league and lost but this time we are approaching the match with a positive mentality.
“We are also still in the Chibuku Super Cup and I am targeting the trophy as well as the league.”
The Green Machine have a strong side which include skipper Tapiwa Kumbuyani, Hardlife Zvirekwi, Moses Muchenje, Honey Chimutimunzeve, Nicholas Alifandika, Tendai Samanja, and Tafadzwa Dube among others.
FC Platinum coach Norman Mapeza is hopeful to lift his first silverware with the platinum miners this afternoon.
“We are not under any pressure but we need to win,” said Mapeza.
“In football they are positives and negatives thus you win some matches, you draw and lose some.
“I am going to give the other players a break and I will field the others since I have a very good pool of players and some have not kicked the ball since the beginning of the season.”
A host of players the likes of Nelson Maziwisa, Stephen Sibanda, Emmaculate Mawuna, Livingstone Gent, Tarisai Rukanda and young Blessing Sahondo have seen very little action.
PSL chief executive, Kennedy Ndebele, will be part of the crowd at Mandava this afternoon and rallied on the fans to come in their numbers.
“We are appealing to the Zvishavane community to come in large numbers and support this worthy cause and I hope our relationship with ZNA is going to grow,” said Ndebele.
CAPS United qualified for today’s final after beating Dynamos with FC Platinum accounting for Highlanders at Barbourfields.
The organisers said they were happy to host the big match in Zvishavane.
“We are trying to decentralise and create an awareness campaign to the Commander Fundraising exercise and after staging the tournament Harare last year we opted for the Southern Region with Zvishavane coming to mind.
“We understand that the community is crazy about soccer and we have given them the opportunity to watch the game,” said Fabion Chitungo, head of the army charities.
The gate charge have been pegged at US$2 for the rest of the ground.
Tickets for the VIP cost US$5.
Online Reporter