DYNAMOS have paid a heavy price for a dismal campaign in the Confederation of African Football (Caf) Champions League last season, after they were handed what looks like a very tough draw in the continental premier club competition yesterday.
Report by Henry Mhara
According to the draw that was announced at the Caf headquarters in Cairo, Egypt, yesterday, the league champions will start their campaign in the preliminary stage with a match against little-known Lesotho Correctional Services.
While the match against their fellow Southern African team appears an easy one, a tough examination awaits them at the first round stage.
If they manage to pass the Lesotho test, Kalisto Pasuwa’s men will face the winner between Club Berzetinof Tunisia and Ettihad of Libya.
The task will become even more daunting for Dynamos if they manage to clear the hurdle posed by the two North African giants, as current Caf Champions League Cup holders Al Ahly of Egypt will be next up in the second round.
The preliminary round starts in February, just one week after the completion of the Africa Cup of Nations finals in South Africa. Dynamos will start the campaign at home on the weekend of February 15-17, with the return leg a fortnight later on the weekend of March 1-3.
If they progress to the first round, Dynamos will play the first leg away in North Africa then play host in the second leg.
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“It’s a difficult one in my opinion,” veteran Dynamos midfielder Murape Murape said of the draw yesterday.
“But we are ready for anyone. We are Dynamos, the Zimbabwe champions and we will take up any challenge that is thrown at us. All Champions League games are tough because we will be playing against champions from other countries, so it won’t be easy.”
Dynamos had a disastrous campaign in the Champions League early this year, crashing out at the second round stage following a 7-1 aggregate loss to Tunisian champions Espérance.
The defeat saw the Harare giants relegated to the Caf Confederations Cup where they equally disappointed.
This has led to the club losing their place among the top 10 ranked teams in Africa and could not avoid the big football giants of the continent when the draw was conducted yesterday.
Murape, who was part of the history-making Dynamos squad of 1998 that reached the final of the competition, reckons that the club can only repeat those exploits if they prepare well.
“We have learnt from our mistakes from last season. We have to play more international games before we can play in the competition. Last season we played some friendly matches against some division one teams and when we got out there, it was a very different ball game altogether because we were playing some very organised teams. We need to intensify our preparations and play friendlies preferably against North African opposition so that the new players can get a feel of what is expected in the tournament. That experience is vital. As such, we need the support of everyone especially the corporate world,” Murape said.
Dynamos played Al Ahly in the Caf Champions’ League group stages in 2008 and lost both matches 1-0 and 2-1 respectively. Murape conceded Al Ahly are exceptional, but he was not scared of the Egyptian giants.
“We lost to them the last time around, but with a good spirit, good attitude and good preparations we can beat them. Remember we beat their fellow club Zamalek during the same period, so it is the approach to these games which is important,” Murape said.
The draw for the Caf Confederation Cup was conducted in Cairo yesterday, but Zimbabwe was not represented after Monomotapa and Chicken Inn pulled out of the continental second tie competition due to financial problems.
Highlanders pulled out of the Caf Champions League on similar grounds.
This will be the third time that Dynamos face a side from Lesotho . The Harare giants first played Linare FC in 1981. They humbled Linare 5-0 in the first leg before drawing away 1-1.
Another flirtation with a Lesotho team came in 1999 when they played Lesotho Defence Forces winning 4-0 on aggregate after posting a 3-0 victory at home before edging their opponents 1-0 away.
Caf Champions League draw Preliminary round First Leg Harare/15-17 FEB Dynamos v Lesotho Correc- tional Services. Second Leg 1-3 March Full draw Preliminary round 1 Zamalek v Gazelle 2AS Vita Club v Dynamic Togolais 3 Jamhuri v Saint George SA 4 CA Bizertin v Al-Ittihad 5 Dynamos v Lesotho Correc tional Services 6 St Michel United v Tusker 7 Zanaco v Mbabane Swallows 8 Orlando Pirates v Djabal Club 9 Maxaquene v Mochudi Cen tre Chiefs 10 APR v Vital‘O 11 Enugu Rangers v Sporting Clube do Príncipe 12 Simba v Recreativo do Libolo 13 JSM Béjaïa v Olympic FC 14 Asante Kotoko v CD EláNguema 15 Primeiro de Agosto v AS Adema 16 FUS Rabat v Real de Banjul 17 Union Douala v LISCR 18 Horoya AC v Séwé Sports 19 AFAD Djékanou v Diamond Stars 20 Coton Sport v URA 21 MoghrebTétouan v Casa Sport 22 Kano Pillars v Olympic Real de Bangui 23 Congo Champion (TBD) v CF Mounana 24 ASPAC v ASFA Yennenga First round Winner 1A Winner 2 Winner 3B Djoliba Winner 4C Winner 5 Winner 6D Al-Ahly Winner 7E Winner 8 Winner 9F TP Mazembe Winner 10G Winner 11 Winner 12H Al-Merreikh Winner 13I Winner 14 Winner 15J Espérance ST Winner 16K Winner 17 Winner 18L Al-Hilal Winner 19M Winner 20 Winner 21N StadeMalien Winner 22O Winner 23 Winner 24P ES Sétif Second round Team 1 Agg. Team 2 first leg, second leg Winner A Winner B Winner C Winner D Winner E Winner F Winner G Winner H Winner I Winner J Winner K Winner L Winner M Winner N Winner O Winner P Byes The top 10 teams that have been given byes are Espérance (Tunisia). Al Ahly (Egypt), TP Mazembe (DRC), El Merrikh (Sudan) Djoliba (Mali), Al Hilal (Sudan), StadeMalien (Mali), ES Setif (Algeria)
