The Sunday Mail
TONDERAYI NDIRAYA has not been given any targets as Ngezi Platinum Stars prepare to make their Caf Confederations Cup debut in a fortnight but the coach knows what is unacceptable.
Ndiraya says it will be an enormous disaster for Zimbabwean football if his side are knocked out at the preliminary stage of the CAF Confederation Cup by Mauritius’ Pamplemousse.
The platinum miners make their debut appearance in continental football away to the lowly Mauritian side from 10 to 12 February and Ndiraya, who has previously hunted in African football jungles as an assistant to Kallisto Pasuwa, said anything less than a victory is unacceptable.
Last week, Ngezi unveiled their 2017 squad at Baobab Stadium.
The squad has players that have had a taste of international football before like captain Liberty Chakoroma, Partson Jaure and Qadr Amini.
The arrival of highly rated defender Mclive Phiri from Tsholotsho FC, goalkeeper Takabva Mawaya who was with the Warriors at the 2017 Afcon finals as well as Dominic Mukandi and Godknows Murwira from Dynamos has also boosted the team.
With such a cast at his disposal, Ndiraya said his men have to put on a respectable show in their maiden continental campaign.
“What the executive did is obviously calculated at easing pressure on the technical team and the players, but as a team we have our own targets,” Ndiraya said on the sidelines of the squad unveiling ceremony.
“Fine, people may say there are no small teams in international football these days but to be fair there is a gulf of difference in quality between Zimbabwean football and the Mauritian game.
“And us getting the opportunity in a year the Warriors have returned to the pinnacle of African football – Afcon – I think we have a challenge to make sure football lenses retain their interest in Zimbabwe by doing well in this tournament.
“Anything other than beating Pamplemousse will be a massive disaster for Zimbabwean football, which we must work to avoid as Ngezi,” he said.
ln December, Ndiraya was in South Africa together with his club’s fitness trainer Ndimo Machirenje where they spent time at ABSA premiership side, University of Pretoria, who are coached by former Charlton Athletic and Bafana Bafana striker Shaun Bartlett.
It was a fruitful experience, according to Ndiraya.
“The physical aspect of football is usually ignored by most coaches as focus tends to be on team tactics. So basically we wanted to see how others are working on that and I am happy we learnt a lot on how to condition our players and how to help them recover during training sessions and matches.
“Again it’s not like we were not doing this before but the thing is there is always a better modern and more scientific way of doing things and my hope is the team will benefit from this,” he said.
