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The CAF Champions League also provides a similar stage for our players to show their quality, and attract the interest of foreign clubs.

CAPS United’s decision to compete in the 2017 CAF Champions League competition is not only commendable, but a giant step in the right direction for Zimbabwe football.The Green Machine, who were crowned domestic league champions two weeks ago after waiting for more than 10 years for the ultimate prize in local club football, have already taken the first step towards their participation in the 2017 Champions League by officially registering themselves with the Confederation of African Football.

Yesterday, the club’s leadership met in Harare to discuss the players they will be keeping in their stable, and also those they are targeting for the tougher task of Champions League adventure, and the initial response is that things are going according to plan and they expect to have a very strong team for the campaign.

Given the financial challenges that CAPS United faced this year just to compete in the domestic Premiership, one would have expected them to forego the chance of representing the country on the continent because of the mammoth costs that come with it.

But the club’s leadership felt they would not only be betraying the country, which requires our champions to measure themselves against the continent’s creme de la creme, but they would also be letting down their players who defied the odds to be crowned domestic football kings.

The CAF Champions League might be an expensive competition but it is important for the development of our football because it gives us an indication of where we stand in terms of continental standards, and when we fail, we know we should raise the quality of our local game.

When we succeed, as was the case with Dynamos in 1998 when they reached the final only to lose to ASEC Mimosas of Cote d’Ivoire, and when they reached the semi-finals in 2008, we know that our standards are also up there with the very best on the continent.

And, more than just looking for the barometer to gauge where we stand, the Champions League also provides a stage where the country’s flag can be flown very high if our representatives do very well, as was the case with Dynamos (1998 and 2008) and Monomotapa (2009).

Only this year we watched as South Africa united behind Mamelodi Sundowns, who are led by one of our very own, Khama Billiat, as the Brazilians charged towards Champions League glory.

The club’s success, the first by a South African side since Orlando Pirates were crowned champions of the continent in 1995, went a long way to erase bitter memories across the Limpopo, of Bafana Bafana’s doomed campaign to qualify for the 2017 Nations Cup finals.

And, now, because of Sundowns’ success in the Champions League, the South African flag will be flying high in Japan at this year’s FIFA Club World Cup, the first time this has happened in SA history.

As Billiat, who this year inspired us to our return to the Nations Cup finals after 10 years of waiting, correctly noted, the FIFA Club World Cup provides him and his Sundowns’ teammates with a bigger stage for them to showcase their talent and, hopefully, attract the interest of elite European clubs.

Should Billiat move to Europe, it’s us who will reap the benefits because he will be moulded into a better player just like Costa Nhominesu, who is starring in the UEFA Europa League for his Czech club, and Knowledge Musona, who is leading the way for his Belgian club, in addition to playing stellar roles in the run-up to the Nations Cup finals.

The CAF Champions League also provides a similar stage for our players to show their quality, and attract the interest of foreign clubs, and even though Chicken Inn were knocked out in the first round this year, their best players – Danny Phiri, Michelle Katsvairo and Edmore Chirambadare were -all bought by South African giants Kaizer Chiefs.

Our hope is that, just like Musona and Benjani Mwaruwari before them, the trio can also use the stage provided by the South African Premiership to show their true quality and attract interest from some of Europe’s top clubs.

We are also happy that Ngezi Platinum, who won the Chibuku Super Cup in their first season in the domestic Premiership, will also be playing in the CAF Confederation Cup next year.

It provides them with a chance to also measure themselves, how far they have come in their journey. And it’s good that players like budding Warriors Liberty Chakoroma, Donald Teguru and Partson Jaure, can get the opportunity to develop themselves.

What we can only urge CAPS UNITED and Ngezi Platinum is to prepare adequately and we know that, if they can do so, we can compete against whichever clubs we will face in an era where the North and West African giants appear to have lost their aura of invincibility.