Rosen hails Mighty Bulls’ fighting spirit

By Eddie Chikamhi
MOTOR ACTION director Eric Rosen has applauded his team for their fighting spirit after overcoming a first leg deficit to beat rivals Cnaps Sports away in Madagascar and progress to the first round of the Champions League tournament over the weekend.
The Mighty Bulls beat their hosts 1-0 in normal time after striker Kuda Musharu scored the solitary goal of the match in the 76th minute from a cross by Allan Gahadzikwa.
Motor Action are taking part in the competition for the first time and they had started their campaign on a sad note after losing the first leg to the visiting Indian Ocean islanders by the same margin at Rufaro last month.
But after enduring sleepless nights trying to raise airfares for the return match, which looked like a formality judging by the Mighty Bulls’ sorry display in the first leg, Rosen could not have got better satisfaction from the victory on Sunday. He could not hide his joy when the side turned the tables and triumphed 4-3 on penalties to progress to the next round after the teams had finished tied 1-1 at the end of the two legs.
“I think there was a lot of tension before this match but I am glad we achieved a positive result,” said Rosen.
“We played in front of a capacity crowd in their 25 000-seater stadium and our chances looked remote especially after losing the first leg match.
“But I would like to salute the team because we played to the best of our ability and came out on top. It’s something that was not expected.
“These guys understood that they were not only coming here to fulfill a fixture but to win,” said Rosen.
Coach Joey Antipas was also thrilled with the Mighty Bulls’ performance.
He reckons they were the better side on Sunday and exuded confidence as they head for a tougher hurdle against Asec Mimosas in the first round.
Motor Action clearly lacked match fitness in the first leg and they also struggled for co-ordination as old and new players, who were featuring in their first game of the season, found the stage difficult to gel.
The Bulls mentor made three changes to the starting line-up on Sunday bringing in Musharu, William Kupera and defender Sam Mutenheri while Edmore Chitato and Enasio Perezo were only introduced as second half substitutes.
“We started off cautiously with a 5-4-1 formation in the first half and we managed to hold them. But we were more offensive in the second half after changing to 4-4-2 and we created numerous chances that we failed to utilise.
“I would like to think we had a better appreciation of the challenges in this tournament after the first leg and we probably had our best practice this year in the last two weeks,” said Antipas.
The Mighty Bulls are set to face 1998 champions Asec Mimosas after the Ivory Coast giants thumped lightweights ASC SNIM Consando of Mauritania 7-0 in the first leg.
Although the second leg that was scheduled to take place over the weekend was postponed, Asec Mimosas appear well positioned for the first round.
Antipas believes Motor Action will be in better shape by the time they face the Ivorians next month.
Meanwhile seasoned campaigners Dynamos will face Algerian champions Mouloudia Club d’Alger when they begin their battle in the first round of the Champions League over the weekend of 18-20 March.
DeMbare, who were given a bye in the preliminary round, are ranked among the top seeds in the competition after reaching the mini-league stage last season and the finals in 1998, where they controversially lost to the Mimosas.
They Glamour Boys were among the top nine teams that were given byes when the draws were conducted.
They will begin their campaign in the first round together with the reigning champions TP Mazembe (DRC), Al Ahly (Egypt), Al Ittihad (Libya), Stade Malien (Mali), Entente Setif (Algeria), Al Hilal, El-Merreikh (both Sudan) and Esperance (Tunisia).
African Champions League
First round, second leg results:
Mouloudia Alger (Algeria) 2 – 0 Real Bangui (Central African Republic) (Mouloudia Alger won 3-1 on aggregate), ASFA Yennega (Burkina Faso) 3-0 Fello Stars Labe (Guinea) (Yennega won 4-1 on aggregate), Deportivo Mongomo (Equatorial Guinea) 1-1 ASPAC FC (Benin) (ASPAC won 2-1 on aggregate), Ports Authority (Gambia) 0-2 Diaraf Dakar (Senegal) (Diaraf won 3-1 on aggregate),  Desportivo Muculmana (Mozambique) 2-1 Zesco United (Zambia) (Zesco won 4-2 on aggregate), Kano Pillars (Nigeria) 1-0 Mighty Barolle (Liberia) (Pillars won on the away goals rule after a 2-2 aggregate draw, Simba SC (Tanzania) 4-2 Mitsoudje (Comoros Islands) (Simba won 4-2 on aggregate, St George (Ethiopia) 1-0 Recreativo Caala (Angola) (Caala won 2-1 on aggregate,  Matlama (Lesotho) 2-1 SuperSport United (South Africa) (SuperSport won 3-2 on aggregate),  Cnaps Sport (Madagascar) 0-1 Motor Action (Zimbabwe) (Motor Action won 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 aggregate draw), Enyimba (Nigeria) 2-0 Saint Michel Ouenze (Congo) (Enyimba won 3-0 on aggregate), St Michel United (Seychelles) 2-1 Young Buffaloes (Swaziland) (Young Buffaloes won 4-2 on aggregate), InterClube (Angola) walkover (Township Rollers (Botswana) withdrew), Raja Casablanca (Morocco) walkover (Tourbillon (Chad) withdrew after losing first leg 10-1).