FROM a field of 16 teams, only four remain in the hunt for this season’s Chibuku Super Cup, as Dynamos, Harare City, Chapungu and ZPC Kariba, all converge on Mandava Stadium for this weekend’s semi-finals.
BY HENRY MHARA
Last season’s losing finalists Harare City and ZPC Kariba get the ball rolling this afternoon, while Dynamos, boasting the highest league position of any team left in the Chibuku Cup, meet Chapungu on Saturday afternoon.
The winners from this round will book a berth in the final, expected to be played on October 31.
Already, the four teams are assured of pocketing $25 000 for reaching this stage, while the losing finalists will get $50 000.
The winner will walk away $75 000 richer, but the ultimate prize will be participation in the Caf Confederations Cup next season.
With three of the four teams, with the exception of Dynamos, all out of the league title race, this cup provides their only chance of winning silverware this season.
Dynamos are second on the league table, four points behind leaders Chicken Inn and there is still some faint hope of retaining the title.
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And their opponents tomorrow should not pose undue concern.
But the Harare giants were last season bundled out of the competition at the first stage by now relegated Black Rhinos, so while this match, on paper, has the makings of a straightforward victory for the Tonderai Ndiraya-coached side, however, recent history reminds them they will have to work their socks off to get a result. Ndiraya’s camp was last week rocked by a player bust-up involving strikers Takesure Chinyama and Rodreck Mutuma, but the soft-spoken gaffer said that had been resolved.
“Naturally, I could have dropped one of them, but I told them to go out there and show the world that they have made up and I think the two responded well by combining well to score the crucial goal against Chicken Inn last weekend. I expect them to do the same against Chapungu,” he said.
However, the team has been rocked by a new problem after Obey Mwerahari picked an injury at training yesterday and has been ruled out of the match, posing a fresh defensive crisis for the team.
Ndiraya, though, said he has enough cover with Sydney Linyama, previously injured, certified fit for the match.
Chapungu coach John Nyikadzino, who has four former Dynamos players in his squad in Tineyi Chitora, Patrick Kumbula, Allan Tavarwisa and Phillip Marufu, has promised to make the afternoon as hard as possible for the defending league champions.
“We are meeting them at the right time. We have gone five games without loss and while they are a good side for which we are expecting a tough match, we have prepared well and should be able to give them a good run for their money,” he said.
The weekend will start with Harare City looking to make one step better than what they did last season when they were beaten by FC Platinum in the final.
They are facing ZPC Kariba, who are looking for this cup for consolation following a terrible season in the league, where they are just above relegation.
Both teams were ruthless in the previous round, with Harare City thumping Triangle 5-0, while ZPC Kariba clobbered How Mine 3-0. Their respective coaches, Taurai Mangwiro for Harare City and Sunday Chidzambwa of ZPC Kariba, will be hoping their teams reproduce that form.
