Pirates success inspires DeMbare

By Petros Kausiyo

DYNAMOS president Kenny Mubaiwa has saluted Orlando Pirates for reaching the CAF Confederation Cup final and believes his Glamour Boys can draw a lot of inspiration from the Buccaneers as they seek to win a League and Cup double on the local front. DeMbare hope to hunt on the continental front next year.

Despite winning a fourth successive Castle Lager Premiership title under Callisto Pasuwa last year, Dynamos opted to take a sabbatical from the Champions League with Mubaiwa insisting it was a period for them to regroup before re-launching an onslaught on the African game.

Youthful coach Tonderai Ndiraya, who stepped in after replacing the sacked David “Yogi’’ Mandigora on August 1, has remarkably led Dynamos into the Chibuku Super Cup final while keeping alive their hopes for a fifth straight championship.

Mubaiwa now believes the double is theirs for the taking.

Hours after Dynamos overcame a battling Chapungu 1-0 in the Chibuku Super Cup semi-final at Mandava, Mubaiwa took to television to watch the Pirates against Al Ahly clash at Suez Stadium in Egypt.

The Dynamos president said Pirates’ come-from-behind triumph against a very experienced and tough side like Al Ahly was a lesson to DeMbare and other Southern African clubs that “hard work and organisation pays off’’.

Pirates advanced to the Confederation Cup final after beating Al Ahly 4-3 in the second leg of the semi-final.

The Buccaneers had won the first leg 1-0 at Orlando Stadium in Soweto two weeks before.

Goals from Kermit Erasmus, Thamsanqa Gabuza, Thabo Matlaba and Thabo Rakhale completed a come-from-behind win for Pirates and send them into next month’s two-legged final against another North African opposition — Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia.

Crucially for South African football Pirates can guarantee themselves a spot in the CAF competition next year if they win the Confederation Cup.

Pirates’ spot in the final has also secured at least three more points for South Africa in CAF’s Five-Year ranking system, making sure that the country will continue to have two teams playing in both the Champions League and Confederation Cup for the foreseeable future.

However, on top of that, a win for Pirates against Sahel could see South Africa end up with three places in next year’s Confederation Cup with the winners of the tournament automatically qualifying for the chance to defend their title the following year.

In South Africa the two teams that finished top of the Absa Premiership (Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns) qualify for the Champions League, with third place and the Nedbank Cup winner (Bidvest Wits and Ajax Cape Town) going into the Confederation Cup.

Just like Pirates, it was Dynamos’ exploits in the Champions League, in which they had become a regular feature in the group stages, which earned Zimbabwe two Champions League and Confederation Cup slots.

Mubaiwa yesterday vowed that Dynamos were ready to reclaim their role as the country’s biggest football club and set new trends by cantering to a possible fifth Championship title and overcoming Harare City in the Chibuku Super Cup final.

Victory in the Chibuku Super Cup also guarantees its winners a place in the 2016 Confederation Cup and Mubaiwa, who praised the current Dynamos squad for “their discipline and commitment,’’ said he believed the League and Cup double was a strong possibility.

“Last year we were left bitter with the way we lost to Rhinos in the Chibuku Cup because we were ill-prepared . . . our players had gone on strike before that game but this time it has been a different story and whenever we go past the first round we normally go all the way to the final and this what we have just done.

“In the league we are four points behind Chicken Inn, we know it is not going to be easy but we would want to win all our games and we are hoping that they slip up while we close the gap.

“We are playing Harare City in the league which is another important match because in these last weeks of the league race, it is the time to check who is who and we believe we have the better character and capacity to be champions.

“Although we have some players from last year, I must say after we read the Riot Act on the squad that we have and there has been an improvement in the levels of discipline and you can see that this year there was no strike at all.

“We said that anyone who has grievances must address them through proper channels but ensure we do duty first and complaints later,’’ Mubaiwa said. The champions will face a dress rehearsal of their Chibuku Super Cup final when they take on Harare City in Match Day 25 fixtures at Rufaro on Sunday.

Mubaiwa said yesterday Pirates’ exploits showed that Southern African football was still very strong and wants DeMbare to return to the continental game in 2016 with the same kind of bang shown by the Buccaneers.

“I think we have been dominant at home but we need a league against other champions from other countries and test ourselves regularly and in order to do that we need to win the championship again,’’ Mubaiwa said. The Herald