The Sunday Mail
DYNAMOS, although known as the Glamour Boys, are not synonymous with finesse, rarely do they go about business with elegance and swagger.
Effective would be the term best suited to describe a DeMbare outfit that is ruthlessly dominating the local football landscape under a coach whose sense of dressing belies the smart football brain he carries.
However, the last time they took to the National Sports Stadium — in the TM Pick n Pay Challenge Cup against Highlanders on September 6 — the Glamour Boys produced a performance close to perfection.
It ended DeMbare 4, Bosso 1.
The score card showed Simba Sithole, Simba Sithole, Rodrick Mutuma and Washington Pakamisa for Dynamos with Felix Chindungwe for Bosso.
It could have been wider.
A month on, Kallisto Pasuwa’s men return to the same venue this afternoon, to face Triangle in the NetOne OneWallet Cup final with expectations of another trophy in orbit.
Dynamos collected maximum points from both their league matches against Triangle this season, winning 1-0 at home on June 8 before coming from behind to win 2-1 at Gibbo on the 24th of last month.
Triangle coach Biggie “Nzou” Zuze had misgivings about the match officiating at Gibbo, claiming that coaching DeMbare, who scored through Augustine Mbara from the penalty spot and Pakamisa, is a stroll in the park as the club always gets favours from match officials.
“Coaching Dynamos I think it’s one of the easiest tasks in this country because you have many sympathisers and you tend to get favourable decisions.
“If they win the title they would have got it from nothing. They were given a penalty and that was not a penalty at all and look, we could have been given a penalty in the second half and they did not give us” Zuze charged.
It was a below the belt punch, it needed a reaction and Pasuwa, as reserved as coaches come, punched back.
“With all due respect to Biggie and other like-minded coaches who do not appear to concede defeat whenever they lose and instead choose to find someone to blame, I would like to make it clear that Dynamos have not been winning the league championship because of the club’s history and size or reputation but because of the hard work that the management, coaches and players put week in and week out,” he said.
Now with much more than three points at stake the two teams meet again.
This one looks like a shoo-in for Dynamos.
However, unlike in their last cup final appearance, DeMbare will come across opponents who are content with parking the bus as they hope for that lucky break or a penalty shootout triumph.
Triangle, who have a goal difference of minus five in the league, say they have overachieved in this cup tournament as their target was to reach the semi-finals.
The sugar millers, who are battling relegation and have their coach near the exit door, courtesy of a two league match ultimatum, have the odds heavily stuck against them.
Therein lies Zuze’s biggest advantage and Pasuwa’s major challenge. Dynamos last weekend made a meal of dismissing relegation threatened Shabanie Mine in a league match at Rufaro, they needed a Ronald Chitiyo magical moment to secure the points late, late on.
And if there is anything that Triangle would have learnt from that Chinda Boys performance, it is how to make life difficult for the Glamour Boys.
Pound for pound, Zuze has the lesser men but his team’s journey to the final has not been about blowing away opponents, it has been about survival through working their butts off.
The Sugar Sugar Boys needed penalties to knock out Harare City and Chicken Inn in the quarter and semi-finals respectively.
In journeyman goalkeeper Ronald Mudimu, they have a man who is capable of a big performance just as much as he is prone to making astonishing howlers.
Striker Courage Denias returned to training last week after a long injury lay-off and should make the bench with the likes of skipper William Mapfumo, Tinei Chitora, Praise Tonha, Tichaona Chipunza and Nelson Melson making up the core of a team Zuze hopes will do much more than make life difficult for DeMbare.
At the other end Artwell Mukandi, who was a doubt for most of the week, has negotiated the culture shock caused by being the Dynamos number one goalkeeper. He no longer has problems with some of his team’s ridiculous pre-match rituals.
Mukandi has not cast his name in stars since taking over from George Chigova but the former Monomotapa man has done the business whenever he has been called on to.
With Themba Ndlovu and Augustine Mbara set to line up just ahead of him again the DeMbare glove man is assured of good cover.
Blessing Moyo should reclaim his position at right back, from Oscar Machapa, after returning unscathed from the Young Warriors’ outing away to Botswana. The rookie right back scored a gem of a goal, which How Mine goalkeeper Ephraim Mazarura rates among the best he has conceded in his lengthy career, in the semi-finals.
Who would bench Chitiyo after last week’s match winning show?
A fool?
Maybe.
The midfielder, who has reignited interest across the Limpopo, should be part of a midfield cast that is likely to feature the returning Stephen Alimenda, Devon Chafa and Tafadzwa Rusike.
Mutuma and Pakamisa, who led the attack last weekend, are available for selection while questions hover over Simba Sithole’s fitness.
Mutuma loves the NSS and his “crew” who are always housed just near the electronic monitor — which in all honesty needs to be upgraded — will be betting on him. Good money is made or lost by betting on Mutuma hitting, or failing to hit, the back of the nets at that corner. Good money too, $ 80 000 for accounting purposes, comes with winning the NetOne OneWallet Cup.
It’s set.
