DeMbare DeNied food in Mozambique ahead of tie

From Roy Matiki in MAPUTO, Mozambique

DYNAMOS plunged head-on into the web of shadowy manoeuvres blighting African football on a horror first day for the Harare giants on their Champions League tour of this country yesterday.

The Glamour Boys got a rude awakening yesterday when they flew into Mozambique’s coastal capital after a short flight that took them from Harare via Johannesburg.

DeMbare’s travelling party, dressed in designer suits branded by their principal sponsors BancABC, white shirts that featured the Dynamos logo on the pocket and striped ties, arrived at the Aeroporto de Mavalane at 3pm aboard a South African Airways passenger jet.

The Glamour Boys were then taken to the three-star Hotel Africa, which is owned by the vice-president of the team they will meet in their Champions League, first round, first leg tie tomorrow — Liga Muculmana.

Drama started after the Zimbabwean delegation had checked in when the hotel staff advised them that Liga Muculmana had only booked their accommodation. Dynamos, therefore, had to pay for their meals and drinks at the hotel in cash during their stay.

With the Zimbabwe delegation having left Harare at 7:10am yesterday, arriving at Harare International Airport as early as 5am for check-in formalities and spending considerable time in transit at the OR Tambo International in Johannesburg, the players were badly in need of a decent meal.

But the Dynamos officials had gambled on everything, related to their accommodation and food being taken care of by their hosts as is usually the norm in such competitions, only to be greeted by some shocking news by the hotel staff.

With players clearly in need of both food and drinks, the Dynamos management of secretary-general Ray Kazembe and committee member Simon Sachiti, working in conjunction with head of delegation, Patrick Hill, and officials from the Zimbabwe Embassy here, were last night making frantic efforts to find answers to their challenges.

While home teams usually play a lot of mind games on visiting teams in African football, the ill-treatment of visitors is usually prevalent to West and North African teams and this culture is alien to Southern Africa.

Against that background, the reception given to the Glamour Boys by their Mozambican hosts yesterday was a bit surprising considering the warm relations that exist between the two countries.

Zimbabwean teams have suffered badly on their travels in recent months with the Warriors being booked in a sub-standard lodge, disguised as a hotel, during their trip to Burundi for a 2013 Nations Cup qualifier last month.

Yesterday, it was Dynamos’ turn to feel the heat.

Coach Callisto Pasuwa, speaking shortly after the team had checked into the hotel, said he was really concerned about the absence of experienced defender Guthrie Zhokinyi.

Somehow, Pasuwa had planned his defence around Zhokinyi who was sent off in Dynamos’ last ill-tempered Champions League tie against MC Alger in a first round tie in Algiers last year.

But, shortly before finalising his team, Pasuwa was informed that Zhokinyi would not only be suspended for tomorrow’s match but had been banned for four games by Caf.

Zhokinyi was one of two Dynamos players, including Archford Gutu, sent off in that stormy match in Algiers where the Glamour Boys, leading 4-1 from the first leg, crashed to a 0-3 defeat against a background of some of the worst officiating seen in Champions League football.

“In the absence of Guthrie, we have to assess the youngster Partson Jaure who has been playing in central defence with captain George Magariro during the off-season friendly matches,” said Pasuwa.

“We might be left with no option but to throw him into the deep end for his debut in the Champions League.”

Pasuwa has managed to fish some information about his opponents from former Dynamos coach, David Mandigora, who spent two years here coaching Costa do Sol. Mandigora even had a significant chunk of a Dynamos training session reserved for him, where he addressed the players on what they should expect here, before the Glamour Boys flew out of Harare.

Pasuwa, too, could have got some crucial tips from Lloyd Mutasa who came here with his Swazi side, Green Buffalo, for a friendly match against Liga Muculmana. The Swazi side, who were thrashed 2-8 on aggregate by FC Platinum in the Champions League, apparently beat Liga Muculmana during their friendly match here.

But a friendly match and a competitive one are two different things and it’s certain that Dynamos, who are yet to get into their groove after a difficult off-season, are likely to find a plucky opponent tomorrow. Pasuwa said he was aware that their opponents were good in keeping possession and were also effective on the wings.

Crucially, the Dynamos gaffer is confident that his players will rise to the occasion, come the big day tomorrow and will return home with a good result. DeMbare, said Pasuwa, have a good record in the Champions League and it was important for his players to fight very hard to preserve their good name in the competition.

An away goal, in such matches, is very crucial and Takesure Chinyama’s experience, boosted by the confidence he must have received after his five-star performance on his debut for the Glamour Boys at the National Sports Stadium on Sunday, will be the key man.

Rodreck Mutuma was wasteful on Sunday, something that remains a concern in his game, but Pasuwa has to stick with the Golden Boot winner and hope that the bigger stage will bring the inspiration for the ginger-haired one to fire on all cylinders tomorrow.

Pauwa sprung a surprise by bringing veteran Leo Kurauzvione on this tour but for a man who values the importance of experience, the coach feels the former DeMbare skipper still has a big role to play in the team.

The match will be played at the Liga Muculmana Ground, a compact stadium that carries a maximum of 5 000 fans, which is located in Matola, just 10kms outside Maputo. Liga Muculmana have eight senior national team players and have one foreign player on their books, a Brazilian who is their first-choice goalkeeper.

Their coach, Artur Semedo, is Mozambican.

Liga Muculmana are widely regarded as the richest football club in this country and, although they are fairly new on the scene, they have used their wealth to build themselves into a very competitive football club that has broken the stranglehold of Ferroviario and Costa do Sol.

They played in the preliminary round against FC Mafunzo of Zanzibar and won comfortably to ease into the first round. Last year Liga Muculmana were knocked out in the first round by Zambian side Zanaco.