Harare — HARARE is bracing for a big football festival which will see the capital dancing to a three-day fiesta featuring South African, Tanzanian and Egyptian guests when the first round of Champions League and Confederation Cup matches explode into life this weekend.

Premiership giants Dynamos are the only club on the road and they are bracing for a tough start to their Champions League campaign in Kinshasa.

DeMbare who had a bye in the preliminary round after being seeded by Caf -- are scheduled to travel to the Democratic Republic of Congo to face St Etienne FC Lupopo in the capital Kinshasa.

On Sunday, the 2008 Champions League semi-finalists begin another bid to conquer Africa with a cagey assignment in a match that has been switched from Lubumbashi to Kinshasa owing to massive renovations being undertaken at Lupopo's home ground in Lubumbashi.

But the big football festival will be in Harare, even without the people's team, with Lengthens, CAPS United and Gunners involved in the Champions League and Confederation Cup assignments over three days.

The Happy People of Lengthens host crack Tanzanian side Simba SC, one of the best football clubs in Southern Africa, in a Confederation Cup first round, first leg tie at Rufaro on Friday.

Simba SC arrived in the capital yesterday -- setting the ball rolling for the arrival of a large contingent of foreign teams this week -- which will see Egyptian giants Al-Ahly and South African side Moroka Swallows also flying into Harare.

Al-Ahly, the most decorated club in African football, will take on Gunners at Rufaro on Saturday in a Champions League assignment that has been sandwiched by two Confedera-tion Cup matches.

CAPS United the third biggest franchise in the country by support base and the second biggest club, in terms of revenue generated from the gates in the past two years will bring the curtain down with a date against Moroka Swallows at Rufaro on Sunday.

It will be the first meeting between a Zimbabwean and South African side, in the Confederation Cup and comes a year to the month that little Monomotapa ousted Ajax Cape Town from the Champions League.

Makepekepe due to play a high-profile international friendly against the Japanese national team just before the start of the 2010 Fifa World Cup in South Africa in June -- believe this is their date with destiny to win the Confederation Cup.

Gunners are not favoured to win the Champions League and they could have asked for any other first round opponent than the Al-Ahly team they will face in the first round at Rufaro on Saturday.

The Harare side will welcome back talisman Ramson Zhuwawo, tough centre back Daniel Veremu, Elvis Meleka and Ali Sadiki who had travelled with the Warriors to Swaziland.

Gunners will be without skipper Trymore Mtisi who is a long-term injury casualty, but they could welcome newboy Asani Nhongo who is still is to make his debut since joining from Monomotapa.

The champions' team manager Wellington Mpandare revealed that the defender had begun training.

"He is being assessed, he is training with the team and by the weekend will see how he progresses. Mtisi is definitely out as he is in plaster," said Mpandare.

He said his players were looking forward to playing their fancied opponents who have indicated that they are bringing a delegation of 36 people.

"It is a motivation on its own to play big teams in Africa and it is a platform for the players to market themselves.

"Things are tight for us. We need more than US$30 000 to host this match.

"We need to pay for the visitors' accommodation at Rainbow Towers, and the referees are coming from Seychelles and we need US$10 000 for their air fares and accommodation and we need money for our team camping.

"And in two weeks time, we will be in need of more money for the away trip.

"We are hoping the Government will chip in and I believe football itself is a marketing tool for the country and when star players like Mohamed Aboutrika come here and enjoy their stay, it sends a huge message around the world about the beauty of our nation

"If we have been marketing our country through football, we should have achieved something by now.

"I believe the tourism stakeholders should support our cause and work closely with Zifa," said Mpandare.

Dynamos are, however, not yet clear about the travel plans with secretary-general Brian Kashangura revealing that they were battling to charter a flight to Kinshasa as there are no direct flights between Harare and the Congolese capital.

Kashangura said the other travel option that was available to Dynamos would take them through South Africa and Ethiopia and was "too expensive for the club".

"We have since made a request to Government to try and assist us to charter a flight because there is no plane from here which goes straight to Kinshasa.

"We are hoping that we can get a flight that will drop us in Kinshasa and then get us from DRC soon after the match on Sunday.

"We are not yet clear on when we will leave because we haven't had confirmation on the flights but it looks like we may have to leave on Thursday or Friday.

"The other option available is to fly to Johannesburg and then Addis Ababa but that is very costly and Dynamos is broke so we are getting help from the Zifa chief executive (Henrietta Rushwaya) in trying to get a charter and fly for this important game."

DeMbare and fellow continental club representatives -- Gunners, CAPS United and Lengthens -- have been battling for funding to sustain their bids to make an impact in the Champions League and Confederation Cup tournaments.

Away from the uncertainty hanging over their travel plans, Dynamos have been continuing with their workouts on the pitch at Raylton Sports Club.

DeMbare were yesterday boosted by the return from national duty of the trio of striker Cuthbert Malajila, goalkeeper Washington Arubi and midfielder Thabani Kamusoko.

Midfielder Ashley Rambanapasi did not train with the team because of differences with the club's leadership over the delay in the payment of his salary.

Malajila and Rambanapasi saw action in the African Nations Championships qualifiers against Swaziland in Mbabane last Sunday and both struck a goal each for the Warriors.

Arubi and Kamusoko were unused substitutes in the first round, first leg qualifier, which Zimbabwe won 2-1.

Dynamos coach Elvis Chiweshe, who has assembled a different side from the one that finished runners-up to Gunners last year, said his new-look outfit was ready to plunge into the jungles of the continental game and expressed satisfaction with their preparations to date.

"Ever since we started our pre-season training we have been preparing with this game in mind and I am happy with the way things have gone so far.

"I have enough players for the assignment and there will be others who will actually be dropped for this trip," Chiweshe said.

The Dynamos coach said he was comfortable with having to start their campaign away from home and pledged that his charges would "fight for a result".

"We need a good result in Kinshasa and that is what we are going to fight for.

"I think I now have an idea of the combinations that we want to use, it has been coming up slowly," Chiweshe said.

Chiweshe said although he was bracing for a tough game, he did not know much about FC Lupopo except that they have four of the players who were part of his Dynamos class last season.

Stocky goalkeeper Ephraim Mazarura, veteran striker Phillip Marufu and the midfield duo of Carrington Gomba and Mtshumayeli Moyo moved to FC Lupopo at the start of the year.

Malajila should have been the fifth Dynamos player to join Lupopo but the Warriors hitman made a U-turn after being persuaded to stay at Dynamos.

The former Chapungu and Highlanders striker, who opened his Warriors account for this year when scoring the winner in the second half, also appears to have recovered from an injury that had threatened to rule him out of the CHAN qualifier.

Chiweshe said although Lupopo had four former Dynamos players, he would not make any special plans for his former troops.

"I don't think it is anything really special that they have former Dynamos players. To me it would have been the same if the players had joined Highlanders or CAPS United, we would have still played against them.

"The only difference here is that they crossed the border into DRC so as far as I am concerned we are playing Lupopo and not Ephraim and company.

"It is the first time we are meeting them, we are treating them as one of the big teams from DRC but we cannot judge them through our former players.

"The reason why they are in the Champions League is because they are a big team in their country so we are expecting a tough game and I think we are ready for them," Chiweshe said.