The Sunday Mail
Ishemunyoro Chingwere in Port Louis, Mauritius
TONDERAI NDIRAYA has an ace up his sleeve as Ngezi Platinum Stars face Pamplemousse in a Caf Confederations Cup preliminary round, first leg tie at Anjalay Stadium here this afternoon.The match kicks off at 1.30pm. Ndiraya intends to play skipper Liberty Chakoroma just behind the strikers in what the highly-rated coach describes as a flexible 3-6-1 formation.
Chakoroma has always fancied himself as a central defender but Ndiraya’s arrival at the platinum miners mid-last season saw the 23-year-old former Buffaloes man deployed as a defensive midfielder.
He rose to prominence as a tough tackling defender for then premiership side Buffaloes and the Young Warriors before joining Free State Stars in the ABSA Premiership in a deal that went sour.
He returned home at the beginning of last season and looked set to join Dynamos, but Ngezi Platinum Stars swooped on him in a last minute coup.
Ndiraya yesterday explained the thinking behind the move to play Chakoroma in an attacking role.
“Liberty is a very intelligent player who never misses an opportunity to shoot at goal … Now what we want is for him to trouble the opponent with his shots at goal without worrying about defending hence the need to push him up field.
“He will play behind the main striker in a 3-6-1 formation which is subject to change to suit the demands of the match. We have to be smart in terms of our approach so changes in approach will be made depending on how the game is progressing,” he said.
Playing away from home, Ngezi Platinum Stars are likely to employ a defensive approach with the former Dynamos duo of Walter Mukanga and Dominic Mukandi set to anchor a midfield that will also feature Xolisani Moyo.
2016 Castle Lager Soccer Star of the Year finalist Godknows Murwira will also have to contend with a changed role as he is set to join sweeper Partson Jaure and Knowledge Machona at the heart of defence.
Ndiraya noted the tendency by Zimbabwean clubs to plunge into battle without much knowledge of their opponents or the weather conditions as the main reasons why locals struggled in Caf Club competitions.
“We left Zimbabwe having been alerted of the hot and humid conditions here and that informed our decision to congest the midfield and try to contain them. Our focus is wholly on this match but if we are to write a success story in this tournament we have to beat Pamplemousse and reach the group stage,” he said.
Probable Starting XI
N Chadya, K Machona, P Jaure, G Murwira; W Mukanga, D Mukandi, L Chakoroma, N Ketala, T Muchisa, X Moyo; K Bulaji
