Harare City coach Bigboy Mawiwi is crying foul ahead of his side’s Mbada Diamonds Cup first round clash against FC Platinum at Nyamhunga Stadium this afternoon.
Report by Albert Marufu
Mawiwi feels that his side has not been given ample time to prepare for the tie after their Wednesday clash against Dynamos in which they fell to an Ocean Mushure late strike.
“We did not have enough time to check on the players’ fitness after Wednesday’s game because we did not train yesterday (Thursday). We played our game against Dynamos on Wednesday while FC Platinum played on Tuesday. This means that they had enough time to recover,” he said.
“I do not even know which of my players are fit to play and you know this is a rich tournament, so players can even force themselves to play despite being injured. To make it even worse, the communication on which day this match was going to be played reached us late and we are supposed to travel to Kariba today (yesterday). The ideal day to have played this match would have been on Sunday.” City though will travel 360km to Kariba while Platinum will make a 625km journey from Zvishavane. Mawiwi will be hoping that goalkeeper Nomore John maintains the form that saw him restricting Dynamos to a single goal on Wednesday afternoon at Rufaro. John will be hoping for the support of Willard Kalongonda and Silas Solongani.
FC Platinum, who beat the “City Fathers” 4-1 in a league match, will be missing the services of midfielder Allan Gahadzikwa who sustained an ankle injury in his side’s 4-0 drubbing of struggling Quelaton in a league match at Luveve Stadium on Tuesday. The team’s coach Tendai Chikuni confirmed that Gahadzikwa, the scorer of the platinum miners’ opener against Quelaton, will have to pass a late fitness test.
“Allan might not play as he is still struggling with an injury. He is the only injured player in the team and we are ready for battle. Cup games are always difficult and Harare City are a very difficult side. They have some good midfielders and a water tight defence,” he said. Chikuni, however, still has enough ammunition in Charles Sibanda, Welcome Ndiweni, Joel Ngodzo and Ali Sadiki.
Prize breakdown: Winners: $100 000 plus $150 000 subsidy for representing Zimbabwe in the Caf Confederation Cup Runners-up: $60 000 Semi-finalists: $30 000 Quarter-finalists: $20 000 First round losers: $10 000
