Tsipa sidelined

Grace Chingoma Senior Sports Reporter
CAPS United would be missing veteran forward Leonard Tsipa when they take on Hwange in the quarter-finals of the NetOne Easycal Cup at the National Sports Stadium this afternoon

The veteran striker, who scored his side’s equaliser in last weekend’s Harare derby against Dynamos at Rufaro, has been ruled out of this tie with an ankle injury.

And yesterday Tsipa said he has confident that his team would do well without him and progress to the next round at the expense of Hwange when they clash at the National Sports Stadium this afternoon.

The former Dynamos striker has a nagging ankle injury and has been soldiering on as he continued playing carrying the knock but it flared up this week after he landed awkwardly soon after scoring in the 1-1 draw against DeMbare in last weekend’s match.

The ankle has since swollen and the striker has taken some rest.

Ahead of the Harare derby, coach Lloyd Chitembwe hailed the player for being strong and sacrificing a lot for the club by playing while carrying an injury.

“I felt I should take a rest this weekend and recover. I have an ankle injury and I landed badly after scoring and it is swollen.

“I would have loved to play in the Easycall Cup game as one of the most experienced player in the team but I know the players will deliver and we have a good team,” said Tsipa.

CAPS United defender Justice Jangano said the players are so focused and want to do well in this tournament and finish the season with some silverware.

“I think we have a very good chance of progressing and CAPS United is a big brand and we are going to fight for the brand so that we end the season with something in our coffers so we are looking forward to do well in this game,” said Jangano.

The Green Machine would be hoping to carry on with some good football that they displayed against Dynamos in the Harare derby with players such as midfielders Dominic Mukandi, Josta Ngodza and Phineas Bamusi showing some flashes of brilliance.

They were on song against Dynamos but this afternoon’s match against Hwange will give a good measurement against the team which is looking at finishing the season with some silverware after a poor show in the league where they are now fighting to finish in a decent position.

Hwange assistant coach Mebelo Njekwa said they are fancying their chances of progressing to the next round of the Easycall Cup when they face CAPS United today.

“Our preparations went on well and we are injury free and our aim is to progress to the next stage.

“They (CAPS United) are a good side and they recently beat us at home, but we feel we can do better than the last time,” he said.

The coalminers’ deputy coach has been in charge of the team this week, as their head coach Nation Dube was in Zambia with national team coach Callisto Pasuwa attending a coaching clinich with coaches from Barcelona Football Club.

They returned home yesterday afternoon.

Njekwa said it is self-motivating “with the mere fact that if you manage to play three matches you would be assured of more than US$70 000”.

“We are looking for some silverware and there is only three games to get US$80 000 and this is something good. So we want to progress to the final,” he said.

CAPS United and Hwange are on position fifth and sixth place on the league table with 38 and 39 points respectively.

Easycall Cup quarter-final fixtures

Today: CAPS United v Hwange (National Sports Stadium), ZPC Kariba v Chicken Inn (Nyamhunga).

Tomorrow: FC Platinum v Highlanders (Mandava), Dynamos v How Mine (Rufaro).