Online Reporter
Veronica Gwaze
Zimpapers Sports Hub
KELVIN KAINDU walked into a crisis at Dynamos in August and somehow dragged the giants out of relegation danger without losing a single match.
Now the Zambian coach is one game away from leaving with his reputation glowing and a trophy in his hands.
Tomorrow, he leads DeMbare into a fiery Chibuku Super Cup final at Gibbo, a stadium that has haunted them for years. Rumours are swirling that he is heading to ambitious PSL newcomers Hardrock, but Kaindu has parked all that. He wants one thing, a clean finish.
“We have come to the end of the season 2025 which has been a very difficult one for Dynamos as we had to survive relegation on the last day,” he said.
“Dynamos is a big team, and we should not be celebrating survival, but now we shift focus to Chibuku which is probably the only thing that we have now.”
DeMbare are chasing history. No club has ever won the Chibuku three times in a row. Win tomorrow and they set a record that could stand for ages.
Triangle want to spoil the party and grab the trophy again after their 2018 triumph.
Kaindu’s run in the competition has been nerve shredding. Every game went to penalties and Dynamos survived them all. He wants it done in normal time this round.
“We have been good in this competition, even in terms of penalty shoot outs we were outstanding and I hope that getting into the final, we bring that form,” he said.
“This is the only consolation that we have, and hopefully the only thing that can make us celebrate.”
But Gibbo has not been kind. Dynamos have gone four years without a win there and Triangle are now coached by Genesis Mangombe, the same man who led DeMbare to Chibuku glory in 2023 and 2024. He built the squad that won back-to-back titles before leaving for Scotland, whom he marched into the PSL.
Kaindu knows all this, but he is backing his unbeaten squad.
“Our record has not been good playing against Triangle at Gibbo but we just want to focus on ourselves and what we have achieved in the last few games,” he said.
“We have been unbeaten, and we want to continue in that trajectory and hopefully that is the only thing that can cheer us up.”
The build-up took a hit yesterday when star midfielder Denver Mukamba missed training and was ruled out.
Wisdom Mutasa is also unavailable as he attends CAF D coaching classes. Kaindu didn’t hide his frustration.
“He is not in training for reasons that I cannot share, but it would have been important to have him around because he is the crowd’s favourite,” said Kaindu.
“Whether he gets game time or not, his presence on the team just has a huge impact and I would want him to be present on any day but well . . .”
After the relief of surviving relegation, Kaindu says keeping the squad grounded has been his biggest job.
“We first dealt with the excitement of surviving relegation because we did not want to get carried away and lose focus,” he said.
“Of course, we appreciate everyone’s effort, it was not easy for many teams but Dynamos being former champions it was not good for us to be in that state.
“We were just not sure what would be the final result, but we said whatever happens, let us not get carried away because we have a more important game ahead. To sum it up, I think it will be better for us to end the year with the trophy.”
