With Castle Lager Premier Soccer League log leaders FC Platinum showing no signs of loosening their hold of that position, Highlanders coach Erol Akbay believes his team can give themselves the best chance of winning the title by beating the Zvishavane-based side.
BY FORTUNE MBELE
The match between the two sides is still some weeks away, where each of the two sides will play three matches before they clash at Mandava Stadium, but Akbay thinks it is that match that could decide the destiny of the championship.
Highlanders are four points behind FC Platinum and the two sides sandwich Caps United, who trail the leaders by just one point.
All three teams won their respective matches at the weekend to maintain status quo of the top three positions on the table.
It is so tight at the top so much that no team can afford to drop points at this stage.
Caps United and Highlanders needed late goals to beat How Mine and Ngezi Platinum respectively on Sunday, while FC Platinum had a comfortable Saturday afternoon against Dynamos, with a 2-0 win.
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There are five matches still to be played this term and Highlanders have Chapungu (away), Bulawayo City (home), Tsholotsho (home), FC Platinum (away) and Hwange (home) in the schedule.
Akbay believes nothing less than 15 points in those matches will be enough for his team to win the title.
“We have five games to go and 15 points to play for and we just have to win all those matches. Everything is possible now, but that will depend on FC Platinum and Caps United dropping points. And we still have a game against FC Platinum, which is likely to have a bearing on the race,” he said.
Throughout the season, FC Platinum coach Norman Mapeza has remained diplomatic about his team’s ambitions and what they can achieve this season.
But with pressure having been ratcheted up as the league edges to its conclusion, Mapeza is slowly giving in to discuss the title challenge.
“We don’t know what tomorrow brings for us. As it stands, everybody knows each club’s position on the log table and there is no need for me to make noise,” he said.
“We can plan for something and it either happens or it doesn’t. As a player, my ambition was to play in Europe and coming into coaching, I also have ambitions for my players to win titles and play in Europe. At the end of the day, we just hope for the best.”
FC Platinum were also involved in the title run-in last season, which included Dynamos and eventual winners Chicken Inn.
Mapeza’s brief this season must have been to finally claim the big prize and despite his best efforts to downplay that, the championship has always been linked with his team.
It is the pressure that comes with being labelled title favourites that Mapeza has tried to avoid.
“I don’t want to put myself under unnecessary pressure. Being confident is good, but you have to be diplomatic. It’s just like playing Lotto. You don’t wake up, place a bet and think that tomorrow you are going to win.”
Caps United coach Lloyd Chitembwe concedes that his team faces a difficult run-in, where they will play two Harare derbies, but that has not stopped him from dreaming big.
His team’s performances have given him all the confidence, with a good record of four wins and a draw from their last five.
“If the performance of the team is suggesting so, who am I to say no? Look, we have played five games and won four and drawn one. But the last five games will be difficult. Actually there is no easy game in the league,” Chitembwe said.
Caps United play Border Strikers (away), Dynamos (home), Harare City (away), Ngezi Platinum (home) and Chapungu (away) in their last five matches.
