Zimbabwe’s representatives in the CAF Confederation Cup, Dynamos, have opted to remain in Botswana rather than return home ahead of the second leg of their preliminary round clash against Orapa United this weekend.
Dynamos secured a 1-0 victory against Orapa United in the first leg, played at Obed Itani Chilume Stadium in Francistown last Sunday, with winger Valentine Kadonzvo coming off the bench to score the decisive goal.
As the away team, Dynamos is now looking to finish the job when they host Orapa United at the same venue on Sunday.
Due to the lack of approved stadiums for international matches—neither Rufaro, the National Sports Stadium, nor Barbourfields meets Confederation of African Football standards—Dynamos has been using facilities in Botswana for their home games.
Initially, the club planned to base itself in Bulawayo after the first leg, but officials reconsidered and decided to stay at a resort area in Francistown while training at a nearby facility.
Dynamos chairman Moses Maunganidze told The Herald on Tuesday that team morale is high as they prepare for the upcoming match. Said Maunganidze:
We are leaving nothing to chance as a club. We really need to attend to all issues and make sure that every margin is taken care of.
Rather than travelling back to Bulawayo as per our initial plan, we decided to stay put in Botswana.
The team is staying at a resort and everything is going well.
Setting up base in Bulawayo would have been advantageous for us because we would have been training and living in familiar territory.
But we wanted to minimise movement as well and allow those with little knocks time to recover while relaxed.
We are training at the old stadium owned by the municipality which used to host all the matches played in Francistown before the homologation of the new stadium.
Everything is flowing and we are very happy as Dynamos. Hopefully, we will be able to pull through on Sunday.
The morale in the camp is high and all the players are eager to go out there and defend the badge.
The technical team is working on all the necessary facets of the game to make sure the troops remain focused and this includes mental and physical preparation.
This season, the champions of the CAF Confederation Cup will receive US$2 million, while the runners-up will earn half that amount. Semi-finalists will take home US$750,000 each.
Clubs eliminated in the quarter-finals will each receive US$550,000, and teams that do not advance past the group stage will each earn US$400,000.
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