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The Glamour Boys have been poor so far this season, horrible on the continental front and average on the domestic scene, and Pasuwa badly needs to find some magic, from somewhere, to inspire a team terribly short on confidence.
The Zimbabwe champions, who trail the Tunisians 0-3 from the first leg, were left in a deep soul-searching exercise following identical 1-1 draws against Black Mambas and Chicken Inn in their opening two games of the season during the Easter weekend.
DeMbare gave their players 24 hours’ rest and yesterday the Glamour Boys returned to work in the afternoon to turn their attention to the African safari fully aware of the difficult task on their hands.
They need to beat CA Bizertin by more than three goals, and hoping that their opponents won’t score a priceless away goal, to overturn the first leg deficit and keep their Champions League dreams live.
Pasuwa had been banking on his team’s two league matches against Black Mambas and Chicken Inn to give them the winning mentality they wanted to take into the assignment against the Tunisians.
But the coach was left a disappointed man as the Glamour Boys never turned up, in both matches, and scraped their way to draws.
Crucially, their forward-line, which needs to fire for them to get the goals they need to stage one of the biggest comeback stories in the history of the Champions League, was a huge disappointment over the 180 minutes against Mambas and Chicken Inn.
Big striker Franscico Zekumbawira, who arrived at the Glamour Boys from Hwange under a blaze of publicity as a major signing, has found the adjustment to football at a higher notch a little bit tricky and more difficult than expected.
Zekumbawira stands out in the crowd, because of his massive build and his ginger colourful hairstyle, but that’s all that the DeMbare fans have seen as the big forward is yet to open his goal account despite playing in a number of matches now.
He was substituted against Mambas, as the fans began to lose their patience, and he was pulled out against Chicken Inn, without making an impact on Easter Monday.
Zekumbawira is eligible to play in the Champions League, which makes his current form more important to the team’s short-term goals, than the form, or lack of it, of the other forwards who have been tried by Pasuwa like Patrick Kumbula and Washington Pakamisa.
Two points from the two starts was not the kind of beginning DeMbare had been hoping for in defence of their domestic title and, especially, in the week they were preparing for an important Champions League fixture.
Pasuwa said DeMbare were still hoping to bounce back, on both fronts, and conceded that the coaches will have a big task to lift the morale in the camp this week.
“We need to motivate the guys and continue telling them that the goals will come,” said Pasuwa.
“That’s the only way to do it.
“We are prepared for the coming game and, like I said, we have to go out there and psyche up the guys so that we can have those goals coming.”
DeMbare resumed their preparations yesterday afternoon without defender Partson Jaure, who pulled a muscle on national team duty last week when Zimbabwe played Egypt in a World Cup qualifier in Alexandria.
Jaure was a notable missing link when the season got under way with Augustine Mbara, who is being converted to a central defender, taking his place in the heart of defence alongside Gift Bello.
It was not clear by yesterday whether the hard-tackling defender will be available for the match against CA Bizertin as the coaches are still waiting to get a report from the club’s medical department.
Jaure’s injury could be a big blow given that DeMbare have already been struggling with a depleted squad as they essentially have 19 players eligible to play in the tournament.
DeMbare could have turned to Byron Madzokere, but the former Gunners man is not available for the initial rounds of the continental assignments as they failed to beat the Caf deadline to register him.
Besides the technical hitch, Madzokere is also down with an injury.
The midfield has also been poor and clearly misses the influence that Denver Mukamba exerted on this department, in particular, and the team, in general, when he was still a
Glamour Boy last year.
Devon Chafa has not stamped his authority, playing in patches, while Tawanda Muparati hasn’t sparkled to the levels of a man expected to carry a team like DeMbare on his shoulders.
Only one man, Cliff Sekete, has played to the levels expected of a man who wears the famous blue-and-white jersey but he has been fighting lone battles, and disappears from the game for long periods only to reappear with a dazzling move.
Sekete is good but he could be better, and more effective, if he plays at the same high level for a long time and involves himself more in the game, rather than withdrawing into no-man’s land where he can spend some minutes hiding on the wings.
But while DeMbare appear to be struggling at home, their Champions League opponents Bizertin could be fancying their chances after collecting seven points in their last three outings which came after the morale-boosting 3-0 win over Dynamos two weeks ago.
Bizertin, who have since ascended to second place in Group A of the Tunisian championship, will face Dynamos high in confidence following a 1-1 draw away at sixth placed ES Zarzis last Sunday.
Last week, they beat champions Esperance 1-0 courtesy of an injury time goal from their Senegalese star forward, Youssoupha Mbengue.
Bizertin were also coming from another win against AS Marsa where Marouane Troudi and Edem Rjaibi gave them a 2-0 victory on March 21.
Online Reporter