DYNAMOS coach Lloyd Chigowe has said their exit from the Caf Confederation Cup at the hands of Botswana side Orapa paints a bad picture of local football.
Chigowe was disappointed as he watched his side fail to protect their 1-0 first leg win, surrendering by the same scoreline in the second leg before they were outwitted in the penalty shootout.
DeMbare conceded in the 77th minute when captain Frank Makarati turned the ball past his own goalkeeper Martin Mapisa.
Orapa seemed to have done their homework on penalties, with only Temptation Chiwunga managing to convert from the spot for Dynamos while Nomore Chinyerere, Valentine Kadonzvo and Eli Ilunga all fluffed their lines.
Orapa converted all their penalties, which they took with confidence and aplomb.
DeMbare should not even have been dragged to the penalty lottery having been awarded a first half penalty, where Kelvin Moyo had his effort saved.
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A dejected Chigowe bemoaned the lack of a Caf-certified stadium back home as they had to host Orapa in Francistown, Botswana, on Sunday.
“It doesn’t reflect well on our football when the flagship team like Dynamos falls at this stage of the competition. But it comes back to us coming to a lion’s den for the first leg and then returning to the lion’s den again for the second leg,” Chigowe said.
DeMbare were Zimbabwe’s only hope in the African safari after Ngezi Platinum Stars were booted out in the first stage of the preliminary rounds of the Caf Champions League.
DeMbare were starring at a huge payout of US$400 000 had they made it through and the players were naturally flattened at missing out on a decent bonus.
“It’s painful missing out on such a big payout. It’s the reason why we play the game so that we can make a living. So we cannot lie that it hasn’t been painful,” Chigowe admitted.
“The boys were determined to go through to the group stage, but it was not to be.”
Chigowe, who is holding the fort on an interim basis following the departure of Genesis Mangombe, defended his tactics after he came under fire for setting out his team sit back, particularly in the second half where they were pegged in their own half.
He kept Donald Mudadi and Tanaka Shandirwa on the bench until late.
Striker Emmanuel Paga was isolated upfront and despite his spirited show he could not do it all alone.
Twice he hit the back of the nets in the first half, with the first chalked off for offside, while the second which was a rebound from the saved penalty was disallowed after the referee spotted a handball in the goalmouth melee.
“We had the chances to kill off this contest. We had a penalty we failed to score. Just like in the first match, we had a glut of chances that we failed to take advantage of,” Chigowe observed.
“So at the end of the day, we have ourselves to blame. It will be difficult to lift the boys after this, but that’s our job. We will go back and talk to them so that we can challenge in other competitions.”