NGEZI Platinum Stars coach Takesure Chiragwi expressed his pride at the effort made by his team despite the club’s premature exit from the CAF Champions League campaign at the hands of AS Maniema Union.

The Zimbabwe league champions failed to pass the first hurdle test in their debut appearance in the continent’s football premier club competition after a heartbreaking penalty shootout loss to the Democratic Republic of Congo side in the preliminary round stage.

The two teams were tied nil-all on aggregate before the Congolese prevailed 4-3 after a penalty shootout at Martyrs Stadium in Kinshasha on Sunday.

Chiragwi wants his players to keep their heads up and to take the painful experience as a learning curve.

“We were eliminated, but to be honest, I’m proud of the boys because of the performance they gave over the two legs,” Chiragwi said.

“A penalty shootout, it’s more like gambling and any team can win, so I expected any result. The players did so well and I want to give them credit.

“TWe learnt a lot in terms of how we should do our work as a team from the management down to the players. We will take it from here going forward to make sure that we can improve on our shortcomings.”

Chiragwi said they should draw some lessons from the two games.

Ngezi Platinum Stars were forced to play their home match away in Zambia because Zimbabwe does not have a Caf-certified stadium to host international matches.

“We were unfortunate that we were booted out, and as painful as it is, we are professionals, so we have to accept it and move forward,” the coach said.

“We take the positives from the good things that we did correctly and also the things that we didn’t do well. We have to look at those things and see how we can improve and do better next time.”

Chiragwi, who was taking charge of a club in a Caf interclub competition for the first time, said the experience is invaluable.

“This experience is good for the players and for me as a coach to grow. I won’t take this as the end of the road, but like I have said, it’s a learning curve for the squad and the management as well,” the youthful coach said.

“We keep on learning and we appreciate the opportunity that the club gave us to participate in this competition. We didn’t compete just to make up numbers and that is the reason we took the game all the way to penalties.

“We gave our very best to try and make it through to the next stage. Unfortunately, we couldn’t do that. We hope to improve next time and pass the hurdle into the next stage.”

He refused to blame Polite Moyo and Gareth Madhake who missed their spot kicks in the penalty shootout for the heartbreaking loss.

Madamburo, as the team is affectionately known, returned home on Monday and have to quickly shift focus to the local league, where they are now playing catch up due to their participation in the African Safari.

They face Khama Billiat’s Yadah at the Heart Stadium on Saturday in a match they must win to keep pace with log leaders Simba Bhora.

Matchday 25 fixtures

Saturday: Bulawayo Chiefs v Telone (Luveve), Yadah v Ngezi Platinum Stars (Heart), GreenFuel v Caps United (GreenFuel Arena), ZPC Kariba v Fc Platinum (Nyamhunga), Simba Bhora v Bikita Minerals (Wadzanayi)

Sunday: Dynamos v Chegutu Pirates (Rufaro), Hwange v Chicken Inn (Colliery), Highlanders v Herentals (Barbourfields), Manica Diamonds v Arenel Movers (Sakubva)