ALL eyes will be on Dynamos coach Tonderai Ndiraya as he faces his former paymasters Ngezi Platinum Stars at Rufaro Stadium on Sunday in a clash that begins a tough run of fixtures for the ailing Harare giants.
BY HENRY MHARA
Ndiraya was relieved of his duties by Ngezi under unclear circumstances last season, and he will be desperate to show the Mhondoro-based side that they made a big mistake by firing him.
“It’s going to be a bit emotional in the sense that I managed to build my CV at Ngezi,” Ndiraya said.
“They gave me a good platform to show what I can do. I had two good seasons there, and won some silverware. We finished league competitions in a very respectable position. So given that background, I have a lot of respect for Ngezi Platinum Stars.”
He said he had since moved on, just as Ngezi had done.
“We will all be looking for a positive result on the day. My mind is focused on reviving our team, and so far I have seen some good progress and hopefully we can get a good result against my former paymasters,” he said.
Dynamos have an appalling record against Ngezi, winning just twice since the latter was promoted into the top-flight league in 2016. They have lost three times, and drawn once.
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“We want to change things. We have been losing against Ngezi in the past few seasons. The last match we won was a 3-2 win at the National Sports Stadium in 2017. We don’t have a good record against Ngezi Platinum Stars, but we are looking at turning things around,” Ndiraya said.
“We are pushing the guys, and, of course, giving them confidence, especially after the disappointing defeat against Bulawayo Chiefs last week in a game I thought we really had done well to win, but we had to lose the game in the last 10 minutes of the match. We have since spoken to the boys to put that game behind us. We need to bounce back … When you have lost, you need to quickly recover and move on.”
After the Ngezi Platinum Stars match, Dynamos’ tough run of upcoming fixtures offers little relief for Ndiraya, who travels to champions FC Platinum next.
They also have Highlanders, a high-flying Chapungu and log leaders Caps United in their next six fixtures. Ndiraya has a depleted squad once again going into the weekend match, as he is missing Tawanda Chisi, who is suspended, while the foreign imports Junior Nkahan and Robert Sackey are down injured.
Young Tinotenda Muringai returns after missing the trip to Chiefs due to suspension.
