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Eddie Chikamhi Senior Sports Reporter
FC Platinum interim coach Lizwe Sweswe says the champions have to achieve all their targets his season for his former boss Norman Mapeza who quit the club last week.

The platinum miners beat UD Songo of Mozambique 1-0 in the first leg of their CAF Champions League match at Barbourfields on Saturday, courtesy of Never Tigere’s strike.

However, Sweswe, who was roped into the FC Platinum structures by Mapeza two years ago from Tsholotsho, told The Herald their preparations for the UD Songo game were almost thrown off balance following the sudden resignation of his former boss.

Mapeza walked away two days before the match.

“The win was a huge morale-booster considering the situation we found ourselves in.

“If that game had gone otherwise I think it was going to be difficult for us to come back to our feet.

“We were still trying to make sense of what had just happened but now we can focus.

“The boys played well, we managed to get a goal and avoided conceding at home. We have to take it up from there since we have ample time to prepare for the second leg.

“We now know how they play and we have to continuously improve our game by attending to our mistakes,” said Sweswe.

The platinum miners are seeking a second group stage appearance in the continental premier inter-club competition.

Sweswe said the Zvishavane side were also primed to fight in defence of their Castle Lager Premiership title.

“At the beginning of the year we always sit down as a team, look at the whole season in advance and then set our targets.

“Obviously, as champions, the first thing on the wish list is to defend the league title and since we are also playing Champions League, the second issue is to make sure that we progress to the mini-league and then hope to go as far as we can.

“We have our targets, which we set together with Norman, and we would want to achieve those.

“We were all affected one way or the other by his sudden departure but it’s good we won the match against UD Songo and as a team we agreed we did it for him.

“We had planned together for that match and all of a sudden we heard the news he was no longer with us. It was a big surprise to us, no one had ever contemplated that, especially with the task that was ahead of us.

“Now we have to do it for him (Mapeza) because he left a huge legacy at this club. He was a good coach, we worked with him well and learnt a lot from him.

“We will strive to make sure that everything that we set out at the beginning of the season be achieved,” said Sweswe.