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Langton Nyakwenda
IMAGINE the carnival atmosphere — a sea of blue and white colours, a vociferous Vietnam crowd and, of course, the chaos at Rufaro Stadium — if Dynamos were able to host their CAF Confederation Cup match against Orapa United of Botswana at their traditional home this afternoon!
DeMbare would have enjoyed real home advantage in this second preliminary round return leg, as they just need to avoid defeat to progress to the lucrative group stage, where they are guaranteed a minimum of US$400 000.
For a club plagued with financial challenges, the US$400 000 will be a windfall for Dynamos.
They beat Orapa 1-0 in the first leg at Obed Itani Chilume Stadium in Francistown last Sunday.
DeMbare are back at the same venue this afternoon as “hosts” to Orapa due to the unavailability of a CAF-certified stadium in the country.
This is a high-stakes encounter.
And the big question among the Dynamos faithful has been: Can Lloyd Chigowe’s charges evoke the spirit of the class of 2008, which defied the odds and reached the Champions League semi-final?
Sixteen years have passed since the late David Mandigora guided Dynamos into the group stage and subsequently a semi-final finish in the Champions League.
Then, Dynamos led Tunisian giants Etoile du Sahel 1-0 in the Champions League second-round first leg at Gwanzura Stadium and needed to avoid defeat in Sousse to advance to the group stage.
Another 1-0 win via a Benjamin Marere strike stunned the Tunisians as DeMbare powered into the money-spinning group phase.
Edward Sadomba, one of the stars of that Dynamos fairy-tale run of 2008, has backed the group of 2024 to prevail over Orapa this afternoon.
“As far as I am concerned, Dynamos have the capacity to go far in this tournament because of the bond between the players and the coaches, which is a very important thing in football,” he told Zimpapers Sports Hub.
“We have MaBlanyo (Chigowe), a great coach with international experience gained from his days coaching national youth teams.
“He is a great motivator, and luckily, he is surrounded by a good technical team that has Murape Murape, a club legend, and Joel Lupahla, an astute coach. They have been there before.”
Richard “Nyoka” Chihoro — who was one of Mandigora’s two assistants, and also served under the late David George — is also still in the Dynamos setup as a sporting director.
Chihoro revealed he has a close working relationship with Chigowe, whom he described as “a great and listening coach, who is always consulting even though he has his assistants, and because of that teamwork, we have been getting the results’’.
Dynamos needed an 87th-minute strike from substitute Valentine Kadonzvo to seal a memorable 1-0 win against Orapa United last weekend.
Kadonzvo had been on the field for just five minutes when he found the breakthrough.
It was another vital clean sheet for Dynamos, who have so far not conceded in 270 minutes of Confederation Cup action.
DeMbare beat ZESCO United of Zambia 1-0 in Gaborone, Botswana, and then drew 0-0 in the return leg of the first preliminary round tie in Ndola.
They have also been mean in defence on the home front, keeping clean sheets against Chegutu Pirates 1-0 and drawing 0-0 with TelOne in the league.
Kevin Moyo, Donald Dzvinyai, Emmanuel Jalai and captain Frank Makarati have been at the hub of that defence.
Shadreck Nyahwa is also enjoying his game in a defensive midfield role, while Donald Mudadi has rediscovered his touch since the elevation of Chigowe to head coach last month.
Sadomba feels DeMbare have enough experience to overcome this afternoon’s challenge.
“There are experienced players in the team with the capacity to withstand pressure,” he said.
“I urge the players to play wholeheartedly and market themselves. It’s a great opportunity to play in the CAF Confederation Cup.”
After scoring five goals for Dynamos during the 2008 CAF Champions League campaign, Sadomba moved to Sudanese giants Al Hilal.
“I remember when we reached the semi-finals in 2008, we had a very good bond with the executive that was led by chairperson Patson Moyo, our late coaches David Mandigora and David George, as well as our team manager Nyika Chifamba, who sadly passed away last week,” he said.
“The fans also believed in us. There was unity among the players and we played with all our hearts. That’s the kind of spirit we want in this current Dynamos squad.
“When you play in these kinds of competitions, you are not representing Dynamos, but the whole nation. So, you need to put all your effort and also market yourself. Most of the players from our generation benefitted from that good run in 2008.”
Dynamos have set base in Francistown since last week and skipper Makarati is convinced his troops are geared for the battle.
“We trained well; everything is going on well and everyone is geared for the second leg,” he said.
“Everyone knows we are facing a very difficult opponent. In the first leg, we didn’t know how they would set up, but now we know them, and we are ready for them.
“To the supporters, I say please come in your numbers and make noise. If we have the backing of our supporters, we know we can do well.”
Vice captain Jalai thinks it will not be a walk in the park for DeMbare.
“It’s not going to be an easy game at all. We will do our best to make sure we cross the line,” he said.
It is upfront where Dynamos have been struggling. They have three goals in five matches.
Club legend and 2007 Castle Soccer Star of the Year, Murape, has been in the Dynamos setup long enough to have witnessed the Harare giants achieve the milestone of reaching the 1998 Champions League final before featuring prominently in the 2008 campaign.
Although he is still finalising attainment of his CAF A Licence, Murape is one of Chigowe’s backroom staff and rallied his team to overcome both the Francistown heat and the Orapa challenge.
“They say experience is the best teacher and to the current Dynamos setup, these traits are the ones we have been trying to instil in them so we can compete at a higher level and get far in this CAF tournament,” he said.
“The message we are giving is clear: In order for us to qualify for the group stage, we have to be focused, we have to double down on our efforts from what we did in the last match because our opponents are wounded from last week’s defeat.
“So, they will be eager to revenge. We also have to believe in ourselves and if we get a scoring chance, we have to be ruthless in front of goal and punish them to make it difficult for our opponents to come back into the game.’’
Online Reporter