CAPS in do-or-die battle CAPS United
GREEN ARMY . . . CAPS United will be hoping that scenes, like these celebrations, will characterise their do-or-die CAF Champions League showdown against five-time African champions Zamalek of Egypt at the National Sports Stadium tomorrow. — Picture by Gemazo

GREEN ARMY . . . CAPS United will be hoping that scenes, like these celebrations, will characterise their do-or-die CAF Champions League showdown against five-time African champions Zamalek of Egypt at the National Sports Stadium tomorrow. — Picture by Gemazo

Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
CAPS United believe they can put behind them a tumultuous week and cheer the spirits of their fans, in particular, and Zimbabwean football, in general, by slaying one of the continent’s ultimate giants Zamalek in a CAF Champions League showdown at the National Sports Stadium tomorrow.

Makepekepe, who are playing in the group stage for the first time, face a do-or-die game in which anything short of victory will be disastrous and will spell the end of their romance in the continent’s premier inter-club football tournament.

Gate charges have been reduced to $3 for the cheapest ticket from the $5 CAPS were charging for their Champions League matches.

Gate charges for other bays and the VVIP Enclosure have also been reduced.

The Green Machine, who are coming from back-to-back defeats against Libyan side Al Ahli, were in high spirits during their training session at Alex Sports Club yesterday when influential forward Tafadzwa Rusike paraded a silver Mercedes Benz E320 vehicle the club purchased for him.

Reports have suggested there is turmoil in the Green Machine camp, but club president Farai Jere said most of the reports are unfounded and were being fuelled by those who don’t want to see his club write successful stories.

“If just having half of your salary being unpaid is a crisis, in this environment that we are operating in, then I don’t know if you understand what the word crisis means,” Jere said.

“The reality is that, as CAPS United, we have done far better, in terms of the welfare of our players and technical staff than most of our opponents in this country.

“Of course, we understand that there are some people who don’t want to see us succeeding, but that should not worry us because that is the way life is.

“We have signed some foreign players and we haven’t forgotten to take care of those who have taken us here and as you can see, that is the beautiful car we have helped Tafadzwa acquire and that should tell you a lot about what we are doing in terms of taking care of the welfare of our boys.

“Morale right now is high in camp and you can only see it by coming here to the training ground and these boys have shown, again and again, when playing against the big teams that they can rise to the occasion and that is why we believe on Sunday they will come good.’’

CAPS United have done well against the giants, eliminating five-time champions TP Mazembe and beating USM Alger of Algeria, but the players seem to lose their concentration when playing against the minnows.

“That is correct and it’s something the coach has been addressing with his players and just watch how we will respond against Zamalek because, for us, this is the biggest game we have played so far as winning it will keep us in the tournament until the final round of fixtures which we also believe we can win away in Algeria,’’ said Jere.

“Our appeal is to the entire football family in this country to come and support us, the way they came and supported us against TP Mazembe, and we can assure them we will not let them down.

“This is Zamalek, five-time African champions and finalists in the tournament last year and it doesn’t get any bigger than this, but we have already beaten another five-time African champion.’’

Diminutive forward Ronald “Rooney” Chitiyo has been the star CAPS United player in this campaign and a lot is expected from him tomorrow.

The Egyptians have been doing their things quietly and yesterday they had to make last-minute changes to their training ground after fears were raised in their camp that CAPS United would spy on their workouts.

They also sent in an advance team that asked the National Sports Stadium staff to cut the grass to a specific height, earlier this week, as recommended by their coaches. According to the club’s website, their Portuguese coach Augusto Inacio has also been holding one-on-one sessions with his players trying to motivate them.

Inacio brought 21 players to Zimbabwe, but left one of the scorers against Makepekepe in the reverse fixture, Bassem Morsi, because of injury.

Goalkeeper Mahmoud Jensh was also dropped after suffering a muscle injury.

But they encountered a scare when one of the two travelling goalkeepers Ahmed Al-Shennawi caught a cold upon arrival in Zimbabwe.

Zamalek football director Khaled Galal was confident his side will come out with all three points from Harare.

“All the players are fully focused, we will come back from Harare winners,” Galal was quoted on the club’s official website.

Galal said the White Knights boosted their confidence with a 2-0 win over Petrojet in the domestic league during the week.

Nigerians Stanley Ohwuachi and Maarouf Youssef were on target in that match.

Ohwuachi also scored against CAPS United in the reverse leg at the Borg el-Arab Stadium in Alexandria.

Galal said they needed to win at all costs as “they face life-or-death to compensate the White fans for losing the league and continue the continental championship.”

Zamalek squad

Goalkeepers: Ahmed Al Shennawi and Omar Salah

Defenders: Mohammed Nassef, Ahmed Abu Al-Fotouh, Hosni Fathi, Ali Jabr, Mahmoud Hamdi Al-Wensh, Mohammed Magdy and Shouki Al-Saeed

Midfielders: Mahmoud Dunga, Ahmed Tawfiq, Maarouf Youssef, Ibrahim Salah, Mahmoud Abdel-Razek Shikabala, Mostafa Fathi, Ayman Hefny, Salah Rico, Mohamed Ibrahim

Strikers: Stanley Ohwuachi, Emmanuel Mayoka and Hossam Paolo.

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