Caps United seek recovery
CAPS United are desperate to get maximum points when they take on visiting USM Alger in a
Caf Champions League Group B football match at the National Sports Stadium tomorrow, as
they seek to get their continental campaign back on track.
The Green Machine had a bad start to their group campaign, losing 2-0 to Egyptians giants
Zamalek a fortnight ago, which left them second from bottom in a group which also has Al
Ahli Tripoli of Libya.
The Libyans are bottom of the group after losing their opening match 3-0 to Caps United’s
next opponents who top the pile.
Midfielder Moses Muchenje, speaking after the team’s training session at the match venue
on Sunday, said they would do everything in their powers to bounce back into the race for
a ticket to the quarter-finals of the competition.
The top two teams in the four groups qualify to the last eight.
“We are looking forward to it. It’s one game that we must win at all costs, considering we
lost in Egypt. The Zamalek game is now water under the bridge,” he said.
“We have shifted focus to the next assignment, which is our match against the team from
Algeria. Morale is very high in camp.”
Club president Farai Jere attended the team’s training session and addressed the players.
“There is nothing much he (Jere) said. He was just wishing us the best of luck on
Wednesday,” Muchenje said.
He said they needed to improve drastically from their showing against Zamalek, which saw
them conceding through goalkeeping blunders by Edmore Sibanda.
While the big goalkeeper has received a lot of criticism for the errors, it is at the
other end of the field that Muchenje is particularly concerned with.
“We have to do better than what we did in Egypt and if we can continue working hard, we
can get a good result,” he said.
“We need to utilise our chances. If we can score, that’s the only way we can win games and
its one area we should improve as a team.”
He urged the team’s fans to come in their numbers and fill up the giant stadium.
“We need the support and are urging all our supporters to come and rally behind the team
because without them, we are nothing.”
Fellow midfield enforcer Devon Chafa said they drew some positives from the loss against
Zamalek.
He said even though they lost, they still had a good chance of progressing to the next
stage of the competition.
“We are hoping to get a positive result. Even though we lost (against Zamalek), we are
still in it and we will fight to the end,” Chafa said.
“We have to concentrate for the entire 90 minutes, no room for any lapse. If we get three
points, we are back in contention. We still have five matches to go so if we win four, we
will be good. It means taking one for the team, then it’s okay.”
Asked if they have prior information on Alger, Chafa said: “We just know they are one of
the biggest teams in Africa.”
The North Africans arrived in the country yesterday morning.
BY HENRY MHARA
