Dynamos Remain In Botswana Ahead Of CAF Return Leg In Zambia
Dynamos will not return to Harare before their second leg of the CAF Confederation Cup preliminary round against ZESCO United in Zambia on Saturday.
DeMbare secured a 1-0 victory in the first leg at their temporary home ground in Gaborone, Botswana, on Sunday and have opted to remain in the country instead of returning to Zimbabwe.
A club representative told Zimpapers Sports that the Glamour Boys are staying at the Royal Arena complex, owned by Township Rollers owner Tendani Sebata, a Zimbabwean businessman based in Botswana. The team will retain its 20-man squad for the return leg in Zambia. Said the official:
They (the team) are not coming back to Zimbabwe. Instead, they will be stationed in Botswana until they go to South Africa, from where they will connect to Ndola, Zambia. The team is at Royal Arena, which belongs to the owner of Township Rollers.
The 20-man squad remains in camp preparing to fight in Ndola. Generally, the club has kept the welfare of the players well.
They are all happy and all is going well. They have all gotten their allowances but the club will not disclose figures.
In response to media reports suggesting that clubs participating in the preliminary rounds will receive US$50,000 for the first time in the competition’s history, the Dynamos official said that they have not yet received any formal communication from ZIFA. Said the official:
Yes of course the club has seen the news of the money by CAF but it hasn’t been communicated to the club officially.
We have a ZIFA representative with us and he confirmed that the development hasn’t been made official.
But as a club, we are targeting the big prize. There is a total of US$2 million for the winners and US$400 000 for the mini-league. That is what we are eyeing as a club.
In case you got eliminated in the preliminaries that is when you find yourself getting the US$50 000 and as a club we are eyeing for something bigger than that.
Going into the next game we believe that all our technical team and players are in a good state of mind and well-motivated to deliver.
Midfielder Tanaka Shandirwa was the match-winner in the first leg of their CAF Confederation Cup preliminary round at Botswana National Stadium, scoring with a header in the 30th minute, marking a rare win for DeMbare in a season where they have largely drawn their matches.
This victory also marked the first for interim coach Lloyd “Mablanyo” Chigowe, who took over from Genesis Mangombe just two weeks ago.
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