Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Petros Kausiyo
10 May 2008
Harare — Zimbabwe soccer kings Dynamos face the defining moment of their return to the African Champions League when they engage holders Etoile Sportive Du Sahel in the cauldron of the Stade Olympique de Sousse in Tunisia tonight.
Nine years after their last dance with the mini-league phase of Africa's biggest club competition, Dynamos must get a result in Sousse tonight to progress to the money-spinning mini-league phase at the expense of the Tunisian giants.
Dynamos flew into Egypt yesterday morning and spent the better part of the day in the Egyptian capital from where they were scheduled to catch a connecting flight to Tunis last night.
David Mandigora's men managed to have a light workout conducted by fitness trainer Thomson Matenda after the technical department felt it was essential for the players to loosen after a long flight from Harare that took them through Johannesburg.
Dynamos had managed to secure visas into Egypt shortly before their departure from Harare and their trip was made easier as staff of the Zimbabwe embassy in Egypt -- led by deputy head of mission Batiraishe Mukonoweshuro -- were on hand to welcome the team and secured a ground where the players had a run-around in the afternoon.
DeMbare were expected to arrive in Tunis late last night and Mandigora indicated that they would try to arrange a light morning workout at the match venue just to have a feel of the turf.
The popular Harare giants, who appear to have put behind the problems that had threatened to scupper their trip, carry a slender 1-0 lead achieved at Gwanzura two weeks ago through vice-captain Desmond Maringwa's solitary second half strike.
Tonight, Dynamos will face a new ball game in which Mandigora's men need to hold their nerve and absorb everything that Etoile Du Sahel are likely to throw at them given that the carrot before them is a place in the elite mini-league phase.
Dynamos last featured in that stage of the competition in 1999, a year after they had defied all odds to reach the Champions League final where they lost 4-2 on aggregate to ASEC Mimosas of Cote d'Ivoire.
Mandigora yesterday made it clear that he was under no illusion about the tough task that awaited his team in Tunis but said they had done much of their preparations in Harare.
The Dynamos coach said he was satisfied with the manner in which their preparations had gone and reckoned that the challenge was on his players to concentrate especially in the first half hour of their big battle tonight.
"We have just managed to get a place to run and stretch in Cairo. We won't have to do much because we also need to give the players' time to rest after the long flight.
"When we arrive in Tunisia, we will
try to do a light workout just to have a feel of the match venue before we come back in the night for the game," Mandigora said.
The veteran coach said although he would have loved to have a full day's programme at the match venue, he believed that his players were fast adapting to challenges that come with playing in the continent.
"I think most of the players are getting used to this kind of thing. We had enough training sessions in Harare because we knew we would encounter this kind of thing.
"These are some of the challenges that come across when you are playing in Africa.
"We would have loved to have a feel of the pitch in a game situation, but unfortunately we can't.
"Besides everything else, we have to be very careful in the first 20-30 minutes because that is when they (Etoile) will want to really come at us and take advantage," Mandigora said.
He also revealed that he had made just one change to the side that did duty in the first leg at Gwanzura.
Combative forward Lazarus Muhoni is the only change in the 18-man squad as he makes a return to the side after sitting out the showdown at Gwanzura because of suspension.
Muhoni, scorer of Dynamos' first goal in this campaign -- in the 1-0 triumph over Royal Leopards of Swaziland -- comes in at the expense of Norman Maroto and DeMbare might need the former Black Rhinos midfielder-cum-striker's aggression at some stage of tonight's battle.
Mandigora was also satisfied to note that it is summer in North Africa and felt the fact that there would be no huge drop in temperatures could suit his charges.
Dynamos, who have a host of continental football rookies such as Wonder Sithole, Brighton Tuwaya, Willard Manyatera, and David Shoko, also received a vote of confidence from one of the heroes of their 1998 campaign -- Ernest Chirambadare.
The former Dynamos goalkeeper, speaking from his base in Luton, England, shortly before DeMbare left Harare, believes that tonight's decisive second leg showdown would be more of a "psychological match than a physical contest".
"It is more psychological than anything else.
"The North Africans have over the years been playing mind games when it comes to such contests, so if you are mentally prepared you can overcome the challenge.
"I would like to think that Dynamos are physically prepared, so it is the focus that they just need and the confidence and belief that they can defy all odds," Chirambadare said.
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