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CAPS United stunned Algerian giants USM Algier on Wednesday, to record their first victory in the CAF Champions’ League Group stages, cheering the spirits of millions of Zimbabwean football fans.

Given that the odds were firmly against them, playing against a powerful team that reached the final of this tournament just two years ago and has been making waves on the continent, Makepekepe’s solid show and deserved victory delighted the country’s huge football constituency.

The Green Machine’s stubborn refusal to let the profile of their opponents frighten them into submission and slay the Algerians was a symbol of the resilience that has seen the people of this country defy the odds to remain standing despite being battered by attacks from those who oppose our leadership and our hard-won freedom.

That CAPS United could turn on such a quality show, in a game that was watched by millions across large parts of the continent, against quality opponents who believed they were just here to pick the three points on offer and return to their homeland, was the stuff that football dreams are made of.

And, crucially, it also silenced and shamed those who had gone on a crusade across the continent preaching the false gospel that CAPS United’s elimination of five-time African champions TP Mazembe, in the knockout stages of this tournament, was a freak result.

Makepekepe have now faced, in their last four games in this tournament, two teams that have 10 titles between them, with three of those titles coming in the last eight years, and two teams that have been runners-up in the Champions League finals in 2015 and 2016.

And, for our champions to have lost just once in those matches, a 0-2 away defeat in Egypt against other five-time African champions Zamalek, and also send TP Mazembe — winners of the tournament just two years ago — spinning out in the knockout stages, just goes to show the quality of this CAPS United side.

It also justifies the bravado that has been coming from its camp, especially from club president Farai Jere, who has been bragging since the start of the year that his men had the pedigree not only to stand toe-to-toe with the best clubs in Africa, but go very far in this tournament.

Given that our representatives have, of late, fared badly in this tournament, leading the prophets of doom to suggest that football in this country was sliding on a downward slope, it’s important that CAPS United have provided the answer that our national game remains competitive and we have players and coaches who can stand the test against the best on the continent.

However, while we all join the CAPS United family in celebrating this week’s huge victory, which was also a victory for Zimbabwean football, we are concerned by the plight that our representatives find themselves in with Jere on Thursday revealing his club was incurring huge financial losses just to play in the Champions League and it has come to a point where they believe they can’t sustain those losses anymore.

The Green Machine had been banking on getting corporate partners to come into their corner to help them offset some of the massive costs that come with playing in this tournament and, sadly, despite all their success so far, none of the companies have come on board to lend them a helping hand.

As we reported yesterday, the team they beat this week, USM Alger, have more than five big companies bankrolling their campaign while CAPS United have to keep getting funded by Jere as an individual in an assignment that is very expensive.

About four weeks ago we used this platform to rally behind CAPS United and called on companies to give them a helping hand in their Champions League campaign, and while there was an immediate response from one or two firms, nothing has materialised yet.

Of course, some will say that a number of our firms are struggling to keep themselves afloat right now, but clearly, CAPS United don’t need a fortune to be injected into their coffers and, as shown by Impala Holdings chief executive Thompson Dondo this week, there are different ways to come to their aid in this adventure.

Dondo, who used to own Premiership club Buymore, paid for 100 fans to go to the National Sports Stadium to cheer the Green Machine on Wednesday and that cost him $500, in terms of the tickets he bought, and no one can tell us that we can’t have scores of our companies who can pool their resources to come up with such initiatives.

What is key here is that CAPS United are not playing for themselves, but they are flying our national flag in the Champions League and that is why we believe that they need a helping hand from many corporate entities to ensure that their players, who have already shown they can match the best on the continent, can take this adventure as far as they can.

We owe it to CAPS United to help them in this adventure.