ZIMBABWEAN football champions Caps United enter a crunch period of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League in which they have to play 22 games in 16 weeks as the race enters a defining stage.
BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA
The Green Machine, coached by Lloyd Chitembwe, have to date played 12 matches compared with other teams that have played 19. As a result, they now have to go through a series of midweek games in addition to their normal weekend obligations for them to catch up with the rest of the teams before the Chibuku Super Cup kicks off.
They get the ball rolling with a clash against Chicken Inn at Luveve Stadium this afternoon before they return to the capital to host ZPC Kariba at the National Sports Stadium at the weekend.
Caps United were involved in the Caf Champions League this year, where they defied odds staked against them to reach the group stage of the campaign for the first time in their history.
And after exiting the prestigious tournament following a 4-1 defeat to USM Alger, the Green Machine have found themselves having to do a lot of catch-up.
That would mean playing two games in a week. Although Caps United have played just 12 league games while the other teams have played seven more, the champions have already played a total of 28 games including Champions League games.
This has had a draining effect on the players with some of them now showing signs of fatigue before they have even reached the halfway stage of the championship marathon.
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Injuries have also hit their camp with several of their stars including skipper Hardlife Zvirekwi, Tafadzwa “Fire” Rusike and goalkeeper Edmore “ZiKeeper” Sibanda often on the treatment table.
They will be losing key players Ronald Chitiyo, Abbas Amidu and possibly defender Ronald Pfumbidzai.
With the Chibuku Super Cup coming up, more games will pile up on the Green Machine. The games will even increase if they progress in the Chibuku Super Cup.
Club chief executive Cuthbert Chitima, while admitting it would be a taxing programme for them, said they wanted to win the Chibuku Super Cup and would have to cope.
“We really want it (Chibuku Super Cup), so we have to cope. It is a tight schedule though. For us it means playing two games inside a week and there is nothing we can do, we have to catch up,” Chitima said.
Should the Premier Soccer League (PSL) decide to use the group format for the Chibuku Super Cup since there are 18 teams which will be involved in the biggest domestic knockout tournament whose winners earn the right to take part in the Caf Confederation Cup tournament, it will be another burden for Caps United as their number of games will continue to increase.
Traditionally, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) requests national associations to register teams that will be participating in its tournaments including the Champions League by November 30, which follows that the domestic league programme should end before that date.
And the PSL will have to find a way around the problem to ensure the Caf deadline to register participating teams in their tournaments is met.
