adminRicky Zililo Senior Sports Reporter
INDIAN Ocean islanders St Michel FC of Seychelles are expected in Bulawayo this morning for their first leg of the first round Orange Caf Confederation Cup against How Mine set for Barbourfields Stadium tomorrow.St Michel are making their third visit to Zimbabwe and are expected to get the feel of Barbourfields Stadium this afternoon ahead of the tie.
In 2000 the Indian Ocean island republic was hosted by Highlanders in a Champions League first round clash which they lost 0-1 before Bosso completed a double in Seychelles with a 2-0 win.
St Michel were to return in 2002 to face Shabanie in a Caf Confederation match and again, they failed to register a win in Zimbabwe.
“The information we got from Seychelles is that St Michel FC will be arriving tonight (last night) and they will proceed to Bulawayo by road because they want to be there by morning. They will then have a training session to familiarise with the match venue tomorrow (today) afternoon,” Zifa communications manager Xolisani Gwesela said.
The chaotic travelling arrangements by St Michel might work against them as fatigue is likely to hit their players. However, How Mine coach Philani “Beefy” Ncube is not reading much to his opponents’ itinerary and believes that they are capable of disappointing them if they underrate them.
“Of course when you are playing in Africa you need at least two days to acclimatise but this doesn’t mean since they arrived late they are less dangerous. We will be foolish to misdirect our concentration. What we have to do is make sure that we do the job ourselves. We have to hit them hard so that when we go for the reverse fixture we are carrying a comfortable lead,” said Ncube.
He said according to his research, St Michel have seven national team players, two defenders Patrick Bonne and Yannick Manoo, midfield trio of Alex Nibourette, Darwin Rossette and Bernard Annge as well as the striking duo of Nelson Laurence and Gervias Waye-Hive.
How Mine also boast of players with the national team and Caf clubs competitions experience like goalkeeper Ephraim Mazarura, Gilbert Banda, Hebert Dick, Menard Mupera and their leading striker with three goals from two matches Kuda Musharu.
“We are not afraid of them because we have equally good players with rich history in terms of playing in continental competitions. However, this is a different ball game altogether and requires us to prepare in a manner that we believe will get us through to the next round.
“If we get an early goal, that will be good for us but if we fail, we just have to be patient and make steady buildups,” Ncube said.
Some of the players expected to be key in How Mine’s fight are Nyasha Mukumbi, George Magario, Morris Kadzola and Nelson Tachi who are competing for the four starting places in defence with Banda, Dick and Brighton Dube.
Xolisani “Scara” Moyo, Warren Dube, Thembani Masuku, Timothy January and Edmore Muzanhenhamo will be expected to provide clean passes to the strike force from the midfield.
Online Reporter