Ndiraya primed for FC Platinum backlash

By The Standard and Newsday | Feb. 18, 2022 | 3 Min read

FC Platinum lost 2-0 to Bulawayo Chiefs last week, but Ndiraya is not reading too much into that defeat or even the departure of some players, tipping the Norman Mapeza-coached side to bounce back and contest for the title.

BY HENRY MHARA DYNAMOS coach Tonderai Ndiraya anticipates a backlash from wounded FC Platinum when the two sides clash in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at Mandava Stadium in Zvishavane tomorrow.

Ndiraya said FC Platinum were still as strong as they were in the Chibuku Super Cup despite the departure of Kelvin Madzongwe, Rahman Kutsanzira, Ralph Kawondera, Denzel Khumalo and Rodwell Chinyengetere.

“We are expecting a very difficult match against FC Platinum in all aspects. They will be at home, but apart from that, they lost their previous match so obviously they are going to change a lot of things. We expect those changes to really change the attitude of the team altogether,” he told NewsDay Sport yesterday.

“We must remember these are the defending champions, and they won the Chibuku Super Cup as well. All those things can’t vanish overnight because of one defeat to Bulawayo Chiefs. They lost, but they remain a formidable side. We are not reading much into that loss,” he said, adding that some of the players who left were fringe players.

“We are also not reading much about the players that have left FC Platinum, chief among them Kawondera whom we have roped into our system. It is a fact that they still have their key players. The truth of the matter is that the players who remained were the core to the team that won them honours. They only released some fringe players except for Madzongwe and to some extent Kawondera who played some of their games, but largely their team is intact. That makes them a dangerous team to play against,” he said.

Dynamos will be out for a win so that they can move up the table, having dropped three points in their first three matches.

They conducted good business on the transfer market and Ndiraya said that kind of transfer activity should be the norm at a team like Dynamos.

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So far, Dynamos have made seven new signings, bringing in three players from west Africa, that is Nigerian Alex Orotomal and Ghanaians Emmanuel Paga and Martin Ofori.

Besides the three foreigners, Dynamos, who are enjoying the support of Sakunda Holdings, brought in defender Brendon Mpofu from rivals Caps United, former striker Evans Katema, who returned from a short stint in Zambia, Kawondera and winger Issa Sadiki, snapped up from Yadah.

“We have done good business in this transfer window and we now have a team that can fight for honours,” Ndiraya reckons.

“The quality that we have added has really improved our team and we expect an improved performance in all departments. Our biggest strength in the last term was the defence, but we are still concerned with our goal-keeping department which we continue to bolster. In the offensive department, we didn’t have many goalscorers.”

With two goals in 16 matches, Cameroonian Albert Eonde is the highest goalscorer of the five strikers who were at the club.

“That really pushed us to go onto the market to look for strikers who can really score for the team. I believe those that we have brought in can do the job. But recruiting is one thing and, of course, training and playing is another thing, so we are hoping for the best.”