Zimpapers Logo

Petros Kausiyo Deputy Sports Editor
HARARE giants Dynamos will take their 2016 Premiership build-up to Beitbridge for a friendly date with top-flight football returnees Border Strikers tomorrow in a game that could also afford their multitude of fans in the border town a chance to have a glimpse of the side that Portuguese coach Paulo Jorge Silva is assembling.

Dynamos rarely visit Dulibadzimu with their previous meetings with Border strikers having been played in Harare or on neutral soil.

But tomorrow, DeMbare who are likely to use the match to assess on trials Cameroon striker Sunday Djouta, will be parading the squad they are assembling for the upcoming Premiership season.

Dynamos face a tough away opening day fixture against the team that dethroned them as Zimbabwean soccer kings last season — Chicken Inn — when the season bursts into life on April 2.

While much of the focus over the long Easter Weekend will naturally fall on the Warriors as they seek to overcome Swaziland in back-to-back African Cup of Nations qualifiers, Dynamos are also using the holidays to fine tune for the start of the championship marathon.

Dynamos president Kenny Mubaiwa said last night that while Silva and his technical crew which also includes Lloyd Mutasa and Gift Muzadzi will continue to assess the material they have at their disposal so far, the game in Beitbridge will also afford the Glamour Boys a chance to market their brand to their fans including those from across the border in South Africa.

Mubaiwa said it was imperative that “the Dynamos brand be visible across the whole country and not just in Harare’’.

“All along over the years our Beitbridge fans especially those who cannot afford to drive to Harare for our matches, have been eager to watch their favourite team and we are taking this opportunity to visit them on Good Friday and parade to them the squad that were putting in place.

“We have a striker from Cameroon (Djouta) who has been on trials for the last two days and the coaches have been assessing him so we will hear from them again tomorrow but I am sure they may want to use this game to continue looking at him. “Our strike force has been our weakest area and the coaches are trying to beef up that department so the coaches have not stopped hunting for good players hence the number of players who are being tried,’’ Mubaiwa said.

Mubaiwa also revealed that big striker Takesure Chinyama had spurned their offer for him to become a specialist coach for strikers in the Dynamos technical department.

“Takesure declined our offer and asked for his clearance which we have since issued. He sent his wife to get it. We have not seen or heard from him directly,’’ Mubaiwa said.

Chinyama, who has seen duty in the Polish top-flight league, has had his De- Mbare stint blighted by injuries as he reaches the twilight of his career.

Dynamos’ pre-season preparations have also seen them tour Malawi apart from playing against local opponents.