Eddie Chikamhi — Botswana side Orapa United are doing everything in their power to tip the scales in their favour in the battle for the ticket to a dream CAF Confederation Cup group stage place against Zimbabwean giants Dynamos.
Nicknamed The Ostriches, the club made their intentions clear this week when they signed versatile West African player Ballie "BK" Kamara ahead of the decisive back-to-back second-round tie set for the Obed Itani Chilume Stadium in Francistown.
The first leg will be played this Sunday with Orapa United the home team. But the roles will be reversed a week later at the same venue, where Dynamos will technically be the home team.
The Glamour Boys have been forced to host their home game on the opponents' home soil since they could not find an ideal alternative in the region.
Zimbabwe currently does not have a CAF-approved facility to host international matches a move that has also affected the Warriors.
This means the country's representative teams have to find refuge elsewhere and Dynamos seem to have fallen in love with Botswana.
Orapa United kick-started their final week preparations by announcing the signing of Kamara from Sierra Leone.
The robust defensive midfielder, who is also comfortable as a fullback, is expected to be available for selection for the DeMbare game.
"The former FC Kalon and FC Johansen player brings valuable experience to our squad, having played last season for Bea Mountain FC in Liberia," said a statement from Orapa United.
"Known for his tenacity and adaptability, BK is expected to make an immediate impact as he becomes available for selection this weekend when Orapa United takes on Dynamos FC from Zimbabwe."
Orapa qualified for the second round courtesy of a 3-1 aggregate win over Foresters of Seychelles while Dynamos edged Zambian perennial campaigners ZESCO United 1-0 in the preliminary round.
The Botswana side's Media and Marketing Officer Emmanuel Seiphetho told a local radio station that they were not leaving anything to chance.
The club had three players in the Botswana national team that played Mauritania at the weekend and Egypt last night in a 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.
Midfielders Gape Calvin Thibedi, Ricky Ratlhogo, and the towering Koketso Majafi are the Orapa players who are with the Zebras.
Orapa, who are also preparing for the start of the 2024-25 season in Botswana, have played a series of practice matches with fellow Botswana top-flight sides like Morupule Wanderers, who they beat in two matches.
They also accounted for security systems thanks to Tshepo Malgas's solitary strike last week.
Orapa then continued with their warm-up games at the weekend when they beat Union Flamingo Santos 3-0 courtesy of goals from Kamogelo Richard Moloi, Oarabile Lotlamoreng Sekwai, and Eric Ookame. "In terms of our preparations, I wouldn't say there is much that we did that is extraordinary," said Seiphetho.
"But we are blessed that we have three players in the national team, and it means they managed to get high-performance training at the national team level.
"We have also announced (the signing of) one of the players who will be in the line-up on Sunday in the name of Ballie "BK" Kamara from Sierra-Leonne.
"He is one of the players that are quite enterprising. So, I am urging the supporters to come to Obed Itani Chilume Stadium in Francistown because we are bringing nothing but the special football that you saw when we played against Foresters when we put it on the carpet and played enterprising football which is very entertaining and also with quite several goals."
Orapa, who were previously coached by former Dynamos son Taurayi Mangwiro until December last year, have recently announced the arrival of a Bulgarian expatriate, Dimitar Nikolaev Pantev.
Pantev has also seen coaching duty at FC Victoria United in the Cameroonian top-flight league and steered the club to championship glory.
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Before his tenure in African football, Pantev made his mark in Bulgaria with FC Grand Pro, leading the team to five league titles between 2011 and 2016.
In their quest for a maiden group stage appearance, Seiphetho is hopeful the Bulgarian's experience will help them upstage DeMbare, who are returning to the African Safari after 10 years.
"Right now, our dream is to go to the group stages," he said.
"We believe we would have achieved our dream if we go to the group stages. But the team that we are playing on Sunday is much better compared to Foresters because you can get some of their games on social and how they are playing.
"But our coach has been following the team for some time and the Zimbabwean football. We believe the motivation that he will give players on Sunday will help us proceed to the group stage that we aim for," said Seiphetho.
DeMbare are expected to leave for Botswana tomorrow.
