Dynamos seek to redeem pride via Confed Cup

By Augustine Hwata

VETERAN Dynamos forward Murape Murape believes their Confederation Cup clash against Inter Clube presents them with an opportunity to redeem their pride that was severely battered by their Champions League mauling by Esperance.

Dynamos crashed to their heaviest defeat in the Champions League when holders and Tunisian giants Esperance thrashed them 6-0 in a second round, first leg tie in Tunis in April. DeMbare could only manage a 1-1 draw at Rufaro to end their flirtation with the 2012 Champions League.

But with teams that get knocked out of the Champions League at the second round stage dropping into the second tier Confederation Cup, it meant Callisto Pasuwa’s men would remain on the continental game’s radar.

For Murape, playing in the Confederation Cup presents Dynamos with a big chance for redemption and to restore some of the glamour that was dented by their crashing defeat to Esperance. Their loss to the Tunisians also marked the second time in a row that Dynamos had failed to progress to the Champions League group stage after another painful first round exit in 2011.

Murape, who is racing against time to be fit for the Inter Clube assignment, rallied his teammates to show that Dynamos were still a force on the continent and overcome the Angolans.

The winner of the two-legged third round tie will advance to the Confederation Cup’s group stage and Dynamos will go into Sunday’s big battle knowing that only a comfortable win at home will set the platform for their advancement.

Murape who has seen more than a decade of continental action having made his debut in the 1998 Champions League in which Dembare reached the final, said the class of 2012 needed to show that they too have the character.

The midfielder who is battling to shake off a thigh sprain that kept him out of Dynamos’ 2-1 Premiership win over Gunners at Lafarge last Sunday, said his team would have to show they have “brave hearts’’. Murape has been doing light training but is hopeful he will resume the full workouts today.

“Although I have been doing some light training, I hope to start full training tomorrow and I am sure I will be fit in time for Sunday’s match. I was practising some long range shots when I pulled a muscle,’’ Murape said.

Murape said Dynamos, who were one of the seeded teams in the Champions League needed to prove that they still have the character and capacity to compete against any team on the continent.

“At this level of the game whoever you are drawn to play against whether its is Inter Clube, Asec or Al Hilal, you just have to compete. We have been given a chance to redeem ourselves after the big defeat in the Champions League in Tunisia. We were all very disappointed by that but it is water under the bridge.

“Now we have to make use of home advantage and take a healthy lead to Angola in two weeks time,’’ Murape said. Murape reckoned that Dynamos have mustered enough experience on the continent that they should not be overly worried about whom they face in such tournaments.

“We believe we deserve to go all the way in the Confederation Cup. In fact we should have reached the mini-league in the Champions League but it’s unfortunate we then got knocked out.’’ Murape also challenged his teammates not to wilt under the pressure that is often exerted by their demanding fans.

“We keep emphasising to some of the youngsters in the team that we should not fear to lose or fear to make a mistake because of pressure from the supporters. We keep reminding them that supporters will always be supporters, they are there to criticise and to support but we should be confident of our capabilities and just play to win. That will also silence our critics. Form is temporary so we should just keep our focus on Sunday’s game and do the job.”

Just like his coach Pasuwa, Murape said DeMbare had drawn some vital lessons from their drubbing in Tunis. “I think we learnt that at this level of the game you need to be disciplined even if you face any form of frustrations from your opponents or even from match officials.

“We also need to understand that unlike the local league, when playing in these competitions you do not get a lot of chances so we just have to convert the few chances that would have come our way. We also need to be resilient whether we are at home or away.

“These are games that need brave hearts so when we go into battle on Sunday, everyone who would have been picked by the coach needs to have a lion heart and show our true character,’’ Murape said. Apart from Murape, Dynamos also have a number of players on their injury list, which includes midfielders Milton Makopa and Leo Kurauzvione.

Striker Roderick Mutuma has also been fighting to shake off a knock he picked in the clash against Gunners. Pasuwa will also be expecting his side to be boosted by the return of star midfielder Denver Mukamba and chief striker Takesure Chinyama in time for Sunday’s match.

The coach had some of his worries eased this week following the end of a Caf four match ban on centre back Guthrie Zhokinyi.

Mukamba and Chinyama have however been in South Africa with the former attending trials first at Pretoria University and now Bidvest Wits while the later was undergoing a medical at Orlando Pirates and looking at finalising a possible move to the Soweto giants.

Although Mukamba made Pretoria University his first port of call after flying into South Africa on Sunday night, it emerged yesterday that Wits who have been very active on the transfer market had shown strong interest in the player and now have the midfielder training with them at their Johannesburg base.

Inter Clube who have been improving on their Confederation Cup record in the last two years are expected to fly into the country tonight with a delegation of 31. Zifa communications manager Nicky Dhlamini-Moyo said the Angolans had indicated that they would arrive at 9.20pm.

“They have advised us that they are coming tomorrow in the evening. The official delegation should comprise 31 people, among them 18 players,” said Dhlamini. Inter Clube are coming to Harare after meeting Progresso do Sambizanga on Tuesday at Cidadela Stadium in Luanda in a First Division (Girabola) match.

The match had been brought forward due to the fact that Inter Clube, who are seventh on the Girabola log, will be travelling to Harare.

Inter Clube have 19 points while Recreativo do Libolo with 36 points, who are the defending champions, lead the table. The Angolans are however not new to Zimbabwe after playing Mwana Africa in the same competition in 2007. Mwana Africa won 2-0 in the first leg at Rufaro on March 3 before holding out for a 0-0 draw in Luanda.

Inter Clube reached the semi-finals of the same competition last year and were only denied playing in the final by a goal scored in the seventh minute of stoppage time by MAS of Morocco, who went on to win the Cup. The Angolans have so far lost both times on their travels, only to pull through courtesy of solid home performance.