Mighty Bulls trip hangs in balance

By Eddie Chikamhi
CHAMPIONS Motor Action will have to keep their fingers crossed in the hope that something will come their way today as they seek funds for the trip to Madagascar to play the return leg of the Champions League preliminary round qualifier against Cnaps Sports this weekend.
The Mighty Bulls had planned to leave in the early hours tomorrow via Nairobi and arrive in the Madagascar capital Antananarivo around midday.
But the journey appeared in doubt yesterday, as they were yet to secure enough money for the airfares.
Motor Action need 28 tickets for their delegation and club director Eric Rosen was still running around to raise the funds in the region of US$34 000 for the team to make the trip.
The estimated cost of one air ticket to Antannarivo is US$980.
Rosen said they were still hoping to get assistance from the corporate world and other well-wishers for the journey to materialise. 
The only other option that they had was to travel on Saturday and arrive the same day but Rosen said they would not want to risk by taking the late option.
He said the Mighty Bulls, who still have a chance of progressing to the first round if they win, are determined to fulfil the fixture but face a big hurdle in getting the required money.
“It’s very important that we fulfill this fixture because we don’t want to give Zifa or our country a bad name.
“But we are still trying to see if we can get the funds and we remain hopeful that we should be able to get something tangible by the end of the day.
“We are keeping our fingers crossed because there are promises that came coming our way.
“We had sent our submissions to Zifa last month but it seems they were also under pressure from the national teams,” said Rosen.
He said the team had planned to leave early tomorrow to allow enough time to rest and prepare for the crucial encounter.
“If we leave in the morning, then by midday we should have arrived. We all take a rest on the day and then resume the preparations on Friday,” he said.
Motor Action have retained almost the same squad that played the first leg that ended in a 1-0 home defeat to the little-known Malagasy team late last month at Rufaro.
Coach Joey Antipas yesterday said the Mighty Bulls have not left a stone unturned in their preparations for Sunday’s match as they seek to overturn the deficit.
Antipas, however, has been forced to scratch midfielder Thembani Masuku from his plans. 
The former Shooting Stars linkman, who featured as a second half substitute in the first leg, has been ruled out because of a pulled muscle and has been replaced by William Kupera in the provisional squad.
Defender Godfrey Moyo is also likely to miss out with Sam Mutenheri set to reclaim his place after recovering from injury.
“Thembani is definitely out and Milton Ncube is still recovering from the injury that ruled him out of the first leg encounter.  
“Basically there are no big changes to be made to the squad unless something happens in our final training session,” said Rosen.
Motor Action probable squad
M. Jani, R. Mudimu, P. Bernard, S. Mutenheri, T. Ndlovu, O. Mushure, R. Machaya, S. Milanzi, E. Tembo, A. Gahadzikwa, G. Phiri, W. Kupera, M. Mambare, I. Masame, T. Nyamandwe, E. Chitato, E. Perezo, K. Musharu.