HARARE City chief striker Francesco Zekumbawire has been ruled out of the clash against Caps United in the ZNA Charity Shield at Rufaro on Sunday owing to injury.
BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA
The big striker picked a knock during their 3-1 victory over AS Adema in the Caf Confederation Cup tournament in Madagascar at the weekend. That victory qualified them to the first round of the tournament on a 6-3 aggregate, having defeated their opponents in the first leg in Harare 3-2. They will now meet Zanaco of Zambia, whom they host in Harare in two weeks’ time.
But before that, they have to deal with city rivals Caps United in the battle for the ZNA trophy.
Caps United assistant coach, Mkhuphali Masuku said they were taking the game against Harare City seriously.
“Our focus now is the game against Caps United, we are looking forward to the match,” Masuku said.
“All our players are ready for the match except for Zekumbawira, who picked a knock in Madagascar. The game will be balanced. We are playing in the Caf Cup and Caps United were in Mozambique, where they played competitive matches there.”
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Caps United team manager Shakespear Chinogwenya said they were looking forward to the match. He said all their players were ready for selection except Simba Nhivi who had a toothache.
“All our players are available for selection except, maybe, Nhivi, who has a toothache. He might start training tomorrow (today), but those available are ready for Harare City. If they apply what they have been doing in Mozambique, they will beat Harare City,” he said.
The Sunshine City Boys will be hoping new signings from Dynamos – defender Blessing Moyo and midfielders Ronald Chitiyo – and Raphael Manuvire who joined from ZPC Kariba will be in form for the match against Caps United.
Manuvire has been a revelation in the tournament since joining from the Kariba outfit. He has scored three goals in the campaign so far.
After playing the Mozambique opponents, the Green Machine will use the match to gauge their readiness for the season against local teams. The first ZNA clash pitted Dynamos and ZPC Kariba and the Harare giants were booted out following a 1-0 defeat.
