CAPS United fall again to Al Hilal

By Eddie Chikamhi

CAPS United………………….. (0) 1 Al Hilal………………… (2) 3

(Al Hilal win 8-1 on aggregate)

Hosts CAPS United’s hopes of staging a Houdini Act in their Confederation Cup campaign ended in agony again when the Zimbabwe Premiership giants succumbed to another heavy defeat at the hands of Sudan’s Al Hilal in a third round, second leg qualifier at Rufaro yesterday.

CAPS United arrived at their favourite hunting ground, Rufaro needing to stage a miracle to overhaul a 0-5 deficit they incurred from the first leg in Khartoum two weeks ago.

But Al Hilal, even without their key striker and Warriors international Edward Sadomba, proved too strong for a rebuilding CAPS United outfit and after just a quarter of an hour any hopes Lloyd Chitembwe’s men had of a dramatic comeback had been extinguished.

Al Hilal finished off the hosts with goals from midfielder Mohammed Ahmed, forward Mudather Eltaib and a second half strike from captain Mustafa Mohammed.

Utility man Douglas Walaza, who started off as a left back in yesterday’s game, ended up as the chief striker and gave his strikers a tip or two when he scored CAPS United’s consolation in the second half.

Although the result in Khartoum had rendered yesterday’s game a dead rubber, there had been high hopes that CAPS United would use home advantage to salvage some pride.

But Makepekepe were under pressure from the first whistle and were trailing 2-0 as early as the 15th minute, with both of the visitors’ goals coming as a result of schoolboy blunders.

Once CAPS United conceded their second goal, a handful of their supporters from a small crowd at Rufaro elected to stream out of Rufaro as they could not stomach another big defeat.

CAPS United technical manager Wilson Mutekede was disappointed that they could not reach the mini-league stage after a campaign that promised so much in its early stages.

Their victories over Moroka Swallows of South Africa and Warri Wolves of Nigeria had appeared to set CAPS United on the course to continental glory before they came unstuck against Al Hilal and yesterday the Sudanese giants showed that their first leg thumping win was no fluke with another convincing show at Rufaro.

But CAPS United, mindful that they had reached the end of their Confederation Cup flirtation, yesterday also took to the opportunity to show the significance they are placing on their domestic campaign by unveiling six new players — Joel Luphahla, Graham Ncube, Stephen Alimenda, Ndumiso Khanye, Godknows Mhangani and Clive Kawinga.

The six players were presented to the supporters as they come to beef up the squad that was decimated by the departure of as many players to South Africa. Mutekede however, conceded that Al Hilal had been the better side on the afternoon and indicated that they would not turn their attention to the Premiership.

“We made numerous blunders and gave away the ball too easily like we did in the first leg. I think it’s a matter of experience because we were on the back foot most of the times. There is no substitute for experience, but now the thrust is on the domestic front and hopefully we will succeed.

“It was a wonderful experience for the team that we reached this stage of the tournament. We are going back on a rebuilding exercise,” said Mutekede.

Al Hilal’s Serbian-born coach Milutin Sredojevic, who was only guiding the side in his second match after taking the job last month, was pleased with his team’s performance and said they were now looking forward to the mini-league stage.

“I am happy that we won and it shows the tremendous character of the players. We had prepared well for this game and despite the absence of Edward Sadomba we still came here and managed to win.

“Our plan was to keep the ball and try to frustrate the home team as much as possible. We knew CAPS have a slow defence so we used long balls to try and punish them and I am glad we succeeded on three occasions. Now we are looking ahead because we still have a very long way to go,” said Micho. Al Hilal, who dropped from the Champions League, will now join seven other qualifiers to the mini-league stage.

CAPS United’s cause in yesterday’s game was also hard done by a spate if injuries to the team ahead of the match. In the end, Chitembwe was forced to pluck out forgotten defender Danger Fourpence from the club’s archives and partner him with skipper Nyasha Mukumbi in the heart of the defence.

Still CAPS United struggled with their game until late in the second half when Marvel Samaneka was introduced for an injured Ronald Sengu. But by then the game had been over as a contest. Midfielder Ahmed had put the visitors ahead in the 11th minute when he got to the end of a long ball from Mustafa to cleanly beat advancing goalkeeper Edmore Sibanda before drilling home the opener.

CAPS United needed a miraculous recovery from the onset and pressure was mounting after conceding another goal.

The Sudanese visitors doubled their lead four minutes later when Eltaib, who scored Al Hilal’s fifth goal in the first leg, created space from the midfield before unleashing a low shot that eluded Sibanda from outside the penalty box. At this point CAPS United needed seven goals to stop Al Hilal and the pressure was more manifest on the players while the technical staff was short on replacements.

Al Hilal could have added to their tally in the 20th minute when Fourpence made a short back pass to the goalkeeper and nearly gifted Eltaib with another glorious opportunity but Sibanda reacted quickly to save the situation.

The introduction of Samaneka for the injured Sengu late in the second half breathed some life into the CAPS United game, but Al Hilal remained resolute in defence. However, it was the visitors who took the initiative through Sudan’s most capped international Mustafa in the 76th minute.

Mustafa received a pass from Eltaib inside the box and turned his markers before placing the ball beyond Sibanda. CAPS United’s hardworking man Walaza got his name on the scoresheet before Malagasy referee Hubert Andrihamiharisoa could blow the final whistle after capitalising on a poor back pass by defender Saif Eldin Ali.

Walaza was shifted forward after strikers Vincent Nzombe and Tendai “Dj Malaika” Nyamadzawo failed to take the initiative in front of goal for the second time playing as twin strikers. The CAPS United defender, however, gave a good account of himself with a string of shots on target that put the Al Hilal goalkeeper to the test, something that had been lacking in the first 45 minutes.

With a few minutes remaining on the clock, Walaza raced his way into the area and lobbed the ball over advancing goalkeeper Almuez Maghoub and duly punished defender Ali’s costly back pass ensuring CAPS United left Rufaro with at least a consolation goal. 

TEAMS:

CAPS United: E. Sibanda, D. Walaza, D. Fourpence, N. Mukumbi, G. Mapemba, T. Goredema, P. Tafirenyika, Y. Ebabali, T. Nyamadzawo (B. Mazorodze 46th minute), V. Nzombe, R. Sengu (M. Samaneka 67th minute)

Al Hilal: A. Maghoub, H. Mustafa, S. Ali, A. Khalefa, O. Mohammed, A. Yousif, S. Abutalib, M. Ahmed (N. El Tayeb 74th minute), O. Ali S. Abdalla 80th minute), M. Taher (A. Adel 69th minute).

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