Chronicle Editor
Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
PREMIER Soccer League reigning champions FC Platinum did not make any player additions to the squad they registered for the Caf Champions League campaign that kicks off next month.
Player registration deadline for the Caf Champions League was yesterday.
FC Platinum will return to Angola for the second time to take on Sagrada Esperanga on the weekend of September 10-12 in the preliminary round of the Caf Champions League.
“We didn’t make any additions to the squad. We are going to use the same players already in our books. Even if we would have wanted to beef up, football inactivity put paid to that. You cannot take a player who has not had game time and besides where would we have seen him, so we will prepare for the campaign with the material we have,” said FC Platinum gaffer Norman Mapeza.
The Zvishavane-based side had a forgettable experience at the hands of Desportivo de Agosto in Agola and were hammered 3-0 in the first-leg in Luanda before falling 2-1 at Mandava Stadium.
This time, however, Mapeza’s charges will have experience to bank on since their opponents are returning to the Caf Champions League for the first time after 15 years, having last made an appearance in 2006 when FC Platinum were still in Division One and known as Mimosa.
But the Angolans still have an advantage because their domestic league has been active, while FC Platinum were only competitive for 270 minutes in the Chibuku Super Cup.
Should FC Platinum proceed to the second-round of the preliminary stage, they will meet winners between Royal Leopards from Eswatini and Zesco United of Zambia over two legs again.
The first-leg will be on the weekend of October 15-17, with the second-leg coming a week later.
In the Caf Champions League draw conducted in Cairo on Friday, the first round will witness 44 matches divided into two home-and-away legs.
A total of 10 teams were exempted from the first round, and these are Al Ahly, Raja, Esperance de Tunis and Etoile Sportive du Sahel (Tunisia), Zamalek (Egypt), Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa), Simba SC (Tanzania), Horoya AC (Guinea), TP Mazembe (DR Congo), (Tunisia) and Wydad (Morocco).
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