NORMAN Mapeza has admitted his side faces a huge challenge in their bid to clear the first hurdle posed by Angolan football giants Deportivo Lero Agosto in the preliminary round of the 2018 Caf Champions League.
BY TAWANDA TAFIRENYIKA
FC Platinum were drawn against the Angolan champions in a draw conducted at the Caf headquarters in Egypt on Wednesday.
“This is a massive game for us, playing a team which has won 11 league titles is always a challenge to any team. We know we face a huge challenge, especially playing our first game away. We need to prepare well,” Mapeza said.
Should FC Platinum overcome the Angolan champions, they will face the winner between South African side Bidvest Wits and Pamplemousse of Mauritius in the first round.
The Angolan champions are also seasoned campaigners in African football, having made eight appearances in the prestigious tournament, reaching the quarter-finals of the lucrative tournament in 2009.
In contrast, FC Platinum failed to make an impact the few times that they participated in the African safari.
They did not make it to the group stages of the Champions League in their maiden appearance in 2012 after falling to Al-Merreikh of Sudan.
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In 2015, they played in the Caf Confederation Cup tournament, but their performance wasn’t any better.
Mapeza’s men bowed out in the first round following a 5-1 aggregate defeat to Young Africans of Tanzania.
They are, however, looking to improve on that performance this time around, and Mapeza is building a team that he thinks can compete with the continent’s big boys. He has looked to West Africa to strengthen his squad for the campaign, and is currently assessing two strikers from that part of the continent.
Ghanaian striker Ibrahim Dauda arrived in the country on Tuesday and is undergoing trials with the Zimbabwean champions.