The Sunday Mail
Langton Nyakwenda in Zvishavane
FC Platinum. . . . . . . . . . (1) 2
Sofapaka . . . . . . . . . . . . (1) 1
FC Platinum progress 4-2 on aggregate
HOTSHOT midfielder Wisdom Mutasa proved why he is regarded as one of the brightest prospects in the country today, when his brace propelled FC Platinum into the first round of the Orange CAF Confederations Cup in a high tempo preliminary round, second leg match at Mandava yesterday.
A slick passing FC Platinum, exhibiting an appetising brand of football, pulled through 4-2 on aggregate and will make another trip to East Africa to face Tanzanian giants Young African in a fortnight.
Young African beat Botswana side BD XI 3-2 on aggregate.
However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing for the Zimbabwean representatives as Sofapaka grabbed a fifth minute lead through danger man Abdol Fifton.
To their credit, Norman Mapeza’s charges did not press the panic button with Mutasa, who was cheered from the stand by his father Lloyd, ensuring that the hosts survived the early scare with two well taken goals. The forward, whose physic has vastly improved, collected the ball just outside the box, sold a dummy that fooled the visitors’ defence before he let fly a bullet into the top corner to level matters after a quarter of an hour.
The goal breathed life into the hosts who continued to press and could have scored more goals had chief striker Donald Ngoma not missed a couple of chances.
Ngoma headed over a pin-point cross by the impressive right back Raphael Muduviwa in the 26th minute, three minutes before new boy Brian Muzondiwa’s low shot was parried away by the Sofapaka goalie Evariste Mututimana.
FC Platinum came all guns blazing in the second half and grabbed what turned out to be the winner, eight minutes after the restart. Matchday star Mutasa benefited from a clever flick by Muzondiwa and coolly slotted past a stranded Mututimana.
The visitors had a chance to equalise four minutes from time but centre back Felly Mulumba’s header was expertly saved by Petros Mhari and Pure Platinum Play hung on to clinch the tie.
An ecstatic Mapeza heaped praise on Mutasa, whom he tipped to go on and become one of the best footballers ever to emerge from the country if only he keeps his foot on the gas. “The young man’s future is bright I tell you, he only needs to keep his feet on the ground. The focus, however, should not be on him alone because this was a group effort,” said Mapeza.
Sofapaka coach Sam Timbe admitted that they lost to a good side and wished FC Platinum all the luck in the journey ahead.
Teams
FC Platinum: P Mhari, R Muduviwa, G Bello, K Moyo, E Moyo, T Kamusoko, W Kamudyariwa (S Shoko 65th), W Mutasa (A Gahadzikwa 65th), D Ngoma, B Muzondiwa (O Chirwa 73rd), W Musona
Sofapaka: E Mututimana, C Shivachi, O Maurice, J Bagoole, F Mulumba, N Ekaliani, K Damson, S Elie (J Baraza 65th), A Obiero, A Fifton, S Batambuze (N Heripier 89th )
