HARARE City could turn out to be the kingmakers as the battle for the Premier Soccer League championship reaches a crescendo with mouth-watering dates against the top three title-chasing teams imminent.
BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA
Defending champions Dynamos, bidding for a fifth successive championship, will be the first team to face the litmus test posed by the Sunshine City Boys when they clash at Rufaro on Sunday in one of the remaining six matches of the campaign.
Taurai Mangwiro’s men, in sixth position on the league table, still have outstanding fixtures against log leaders Chicken Inn and second-placed FC Platinum. Given that Mangwiro’s men have picked form at a critical stage of the campaign having qualified for the finals of the Chibuku Super Cup at the expense of ZPC Kariba, they could throw a spanner in the works for the championship contenders.
Harare City thumped ZPC Kariba 4-1 on Saturday to set up a final showdown against Dynamos, who overcame Chapungu 1-0 in another semi-final of the Chibuku Super Cup.
Dynamos coach Tonderai Ndiraya speaking to reporters at a news conference in Harare yesterday acknowledged they were facing a side difficult to break.
“We are working hard, we are quite focused, quite relaxed. Hopefully, the boys will give it their best on Sunday. It’s not going to be an easy match, like I said Harare City are quite a formidable side. They are quite strong in all departments, if I can put it that way. They have shown what they can do offensively. They have scored quite a number of goals in recent games and we are quite aware of that.
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We are planning accordingly, and we have to be as tight as possible to stop their marauding strikers, but we are equally good as we have a very potent strike force. Midfield is also good and our defence has been the best, if I can put it that way, and the last time we conceded a lot of goals was against FC Platinum at Mandava,” Ndiraya said.
Harare City assistant coach Mike Madzivanyika, while also acknowledging it would be a tough match against Dynamos, said their aim was to try and consolidate their sixth position on the league table or even do better.
Madzivanyika said they had prepared well and were hoping to transfer their form during the weekend cup game to the league match against Dynamos.
He, however, said they would have to cope without the injured pair of Talent Chawapiwa and Learnmore Muyambo who are still nursing injuries.
But Harare City will take comfort from the fact that their captain David Kutyauripo is back at training and could be available for selection.
“It’s another game, a league game and there is three points. We are playing Dynamos and are coming towards the end of the season. There are six games to play and we will take each game as it comes. We would like to do our best and consolidate our position and even try and do better than the position we are in at the moment. We have done our preparations during the week, but we have got some injuries.
Talent and Learnmore are still out because of injuries and our captain David Kutyauripo has started training and so has Timire Mamvura. If you look at our past games we have also created so many chances, but we were not putting them away,” Madzivanyika said.
Big striker Francesco Zekumbawire, who has seen little game time this season owing to injuries, said he was happy with the progress he has made and was looking forward to the game against Dynamos.
Zekumbawire scored a brace in the 4-1 victory over ZPC Kariba, but he refuses to take the glory.
“I don’t have a point to prove to anyone. I take each game as it comes. I don’t take personal glory, what is important is the team winning,” said Zekumbawire.
In the first meeting the two sides shared the spoils in a 0-0 draw.
