The Sunday Mail
Ishemunyoro Chingwere
Nervousness abounds within Caps United as the Zimbabwean soccer champions prepare to take on Lesotho’s Lioli in a CAF Champions League preliminary round second leg tie at the National Sports Stadium in Harare this afternoon. Makepekepe were last weekend held to a goalless draw away in Maseru and will today need an outright win to proceed to the first round proper of Africa’s premier club competition.
The reigning champion’s last appearance in the competetion was back in 2006.
Coach Lloyd Chitembwe’s desperate need for goals this afternoon has ignited debate as to whether the duo of Dominic Chungwa and Simba Nhivi have what it takes to replace Tsipa at the forefront of the charge, or at the very least inspire Makepekepe to African club glory.
Thirty-five-year-old Tsipa inspired Caps United to the 2016 league crown with 11 goals but is unavailable for Chitembwe in the continental sojourn after he was deregistered when it appeared he was on his way to Tanzania or Ethiopia.
That preseason hunt for a new club was unsuccessful, but it was too late for Tsipa’s inclusion on the squad list for continental duty.
In his absence, Chitembwe has called on the services of the stocky Chungwa and Nhivi to lead the search for goals.
The duo flattered to deceive in Maseru last weekend with Chungwa playing the entire 90 minutes while Nhivi was introduced for final third of the match.
The 31-year-old Chungwa joined Makepekepe amid high expectation after scoring 36 goals in one season for Hippo Valley in Division One.
He managed 10 goals in his debut season and just six in 2014.
Chitembwe’s other option, Nhivi, has been struggling to reach the heights of 2011 when the now 26-year-old joined Mamelodi Sundowns on a five-year contract after scoring 10 goals in 11 outings for Makepekepe.
The return to Caps has not been so productive.
Chitembwe last week said he found it odd that people were now speaking of Tsipa with reverence after deriding his contribution to the league-winning effort.
“I am surprised you now speak of him (Tsipa) so glowingly because he is not playing this match,” Chitembwe said, “when he is the same player I got serious criticism for fielding. Obviously you can never tone down his contribution last season but then I thought it was more to do with the team than him as an individual.
“If you look at this team you will see that a lot of players would always pop up with goals at different stages last year so the guys that will play (today) can continue like that.
“I don’t want to single out Dominic and Simba, but I hope whoever plays will give us the same hunger as Leonard had and the team will support him in the same way they did with Leonard.”
Chitembwe is known for getting the best out of players who have seen better days and the attacking duo of Chungwa and Nhivi could be the latest examples of the coach’s magic touch.
Besides Tsipa, goalkeeper Edmore Sibanda – who was banished from the game for three years for his alleged role in the Asiagate match-fixing scam – and How Mine outcast Devon Chafa successfully revived their careers under Chitembwe last season.
Caps welcome back playmaker Joel Ngodzo and defensive midfielder Kudzai Nyamupfukudza who missed the first leg after administrative bungling of their identification particulars.
Lioli coach Halemakale Mahlaha said he expected hell from the Zimbabwe champions, but was hopeful his men could cause an upset.
“We expect the most difficult match imaginable,” Mahlala said. “Caps are a good side but as good as they are and for all their strengths, they also have weaknesses. We saw those weaknesses in the first leg and our hope is to utilise them to win the match.”
