DYNAMOS’ coach Lloyd “MaBlanyo” Chigowe expects a tough battle ahead of their clash with Botswana’s Orapa United in the second leg of the Caf Confederation tie.
DeMbare defeated Orapa United 1-0 in the first leg of the preliminary round clash at Francistown Stadium on Sunday through a late goal by Valentine Kadonzvo.
Dynamos were away and will host Orapa in the second leg on Sunday in Botswana as Zimbabwe does not have Caf-certified stadium to host international matches.
Chigowe is excited about the second leg and indicated that they could have scored three or four goals in the first half on Sunday, had his players been clinical in front of goal.
“The boys are looking forward to the second leg. They have got their eyes on the prize. We have a motivated group of boys,” he said.
“Orapa are not a walkover. We could have scored three or four goals in the first half had we taken our chances, but they are a possession-based team who played with fluency so we have to be prepared for another tough battle.”
Playing home games in foreign territory continues to haunt Dynamos. They went past the first hurdle in similar fashion.
“Unfortunately, we have to play home away from home. It’s an unfortunate scenario that we find ourselves in as a Zimbabwean football team, including the national team, which is not healthy,” he said.
Chigowe gave the thumbs up to the club fans who followed the team to Zambia and Botswana.
“Our fans have been marvellous. They are giants in their own right. They outshone the Orapa supporters and turned Francistown blue,” the DeMbare mentor said.
“With them, we can only hope that we can be able to navigate the final hurdle. We are calling on them to come and back the boys again in the decisive encounter. It’s not done yet. It is one foot in and with them supporting us, it can be done.”
If Dynamos beat Orapa, they sail through to the lucrative group stages of the tournament.
Chigowe has done well so far after taking over from Genesis Mangombe, who jumped the ship to join Zifa Northern Region Division One side, Scottland FC.
In the first preliminary round, Dynamos beat Zesco United of Zambia 1-0 in the first leg and went on to play a goalless draw at Levy Mwanawasa Stadium last month to sail through to the second round.