Published by the government of Zimbabwe
Petros Kausiyo
8 July 2009
Harare — FORMER Dynamos and CAPS United striker Tendai Gwata looks set to be the only experienced player Monomotapa will add to their books when the Zimbabwe soccer kings resume their African Champions League campaign next weekend.
Gwata has been training with Monoz for over a month since he fell out favour with the authorities at CAPS United.
Monoz, surprise packages in the continental game, will begin their Champions League mini-league campaign with a tough home clash against Tunisian giants Etoile Du Sahel at Rufaro on July 19.
The modest Harare side had an option to fill in the five extra slots they have at the Confederation of African Football in order to complete their 30-man squad in line with the regulations.
Monoz are in a tough Group B that includes Heartland of Nigeria and perennial Champions League campaigners TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo
Despite high expectations that Monoz would go on a shopping spree to bring in more players, club coach Rodwell Dhlakama said his side had instead opted to promote players from their junior ranks.
A number of local and Zambian players had been linked with a move to Monoz during the mid-season transfer window.
But with a number of Premiership and lower Division teams, including Monoz, feeling the pinch of the difficult financial environment in which local football is operating, it meant the champions could not raid the transfer market for high profile names in the manner they would have preferred.
This left Gwata as the only player with Premiership and some continental experience who will join the Monoz squad when they plunge back into the jungles of the Champions League game.
Dhlakama, however, played down the financial impact on Monoz decision not to add to the squad that surprised the nation, the continent and even themselves, when claiming the scalps of Ajax Cape Town and ASEC Mimosas, on their way to the mini-league phase.
The Monoz coach insisted that they had made a technical decision to continue with basically the same side that had shown gutsy character when battling in the earlier rounds of the competition.
"As far as I am concerned some of those stories indicating that we were going to buy a number of players were rumours.
"We sat down as a technical team and felt that we needed to be content with the squad that we have. It would be wise to give the current squad a second bite of the cherry. They have shown character and potential to do well in Africa.
"Gwata has been training with us and he is one player who has experience, having also played for CAPS United in the Confederations Cup and he will be of value to us," Dhlakama said.
The coach said he had promoted fringe players Matthew Rusike, Russell Madamombe and Joseph Mutambiranwa to the senior team and the trio who have made cameo appearances in Premiership assignments would be part of the Champions League campaign.
"We will use the slots that we have to register players like Matthew, Russell and Joseph".
Dhlakama also maintained that he wanted Monoz to continue with their climb up the Premiership standings, although he conceded that some of his players found it difficult to focus on both the domestic and continental assignments.
Despite doing well in the Champions League, Monoz got off to a slow start to the defence of their Premiership title but improved as the season cantered towards its halfway mark.
Curiously Monoz's Premiership resurgence during which they overcame CAPS United 1-0, held Dynamos 1-1, thumped Shooting Stars 3-0 and hammered Black Rhinos 6-0 coincided with the break in the Champions League games.
"As much as we would want to use the domestic matches to measure our fitness levels physically or psychologically, it can also become difficult for some players to fully apply themselves in a league match preceding a Champions League game.
"We just have to continuously psyche them up because we have to pick points without also losing focus of the magnitude of the Champions League".
Monoz will resume their domestic duties with an away trip to newboys Highway at Sakubva.
Dhlakama is hoping that the two-week mid-season break did not affect his charges.
"If I had my way I wouldn't have wanted the players to rest for two weeks, but this is beyond us as a club because when we went for the break, the players were starting to gel and the fitness levels were now high up there.
"But in as much as it disturbs their rhythm the break also came as a blessing in disguise to some of our players who were on the injury list and used the period to recover without the pressure of missing on games.
"Players like Mthulisi Maphosa, Asani Nhongo, Tapuwa Khumbuyani, Brian Mapfumo, Muchineripi Waerera, Joseph Mutambiranwa, Vorster Chitema and Joram Muchambo had been injured but they are now 90 percent fit so they have been the biggest beneficiaries of the break.
"We will use the game against Highway to fine-tune for the match against Etoile Du Sahel.
But as I said some players might want to shy away from tackles ahead of the Champions League, but at the same time, we cannot afford to take Highway lightly," Dhlakama said.
Monoz trip to Sakubva could also present Gwata with a chance to play alongside his new teammates in a competitive game before the real deal against the Tunisians on July 19.
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