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The herald
Mukudzei Chingwere in ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar
FC Platinum coach Norman Mapeza has asked his players to kneel with bandages to avoid injury when the Zimbabwe football champions start their campaign in the Champions League with a preliminary round against the CNaPS Sport on the CNAPS Vontovorona artificial turf in Antananarivo, Madagascar, this afternoon.
The match will start at 1.30 pm Zimbabwe time.
The Mapeza coach and his men landed in the insular nation of the Indian Ocean on Monday afternoon.
They conducted their training session at the match venue yesterday at the same time as the match to get used to the conditions they will face this afternoon.
The stadium is about 15 km from the hotel. However, due to the poor road infrastructure and the dusty road leading to the venue, it takes almost 45 minutes to get to the stadium.
Before leaving for Madagascar, Mapeza explained how difficult it was to play on an artificial surface. As soon as he entered the game, his worst fears were immediately confirmed.
The team complained about the bad playing field and agreed to play the game last night with everyone bandaged on their knees to avoid injury.
However, it does not seem that the weather is bad, the average temperature in the afternoon is around 30 degrees.
"It's always hard to play on an artificial turf and most guys (CNaPS) play with knee bandages, which shows how difficult it is to play on artificial turf," said Mapeza.
After failing to qualify for the final stages of the competition last time, Mapeza indicated that he was aiming for a participation in the group stage and that many would advise him to carry out this task after their success on the stage. where they kept their title. with a 13-point advantage over the Ngezi Platinum Stars, second.
FC Platinum responded by creating a perfect atmosphere so that the technical team and the players focus solely on the task at hand on the pitch.
Knowing the traps of the African jungle where an opponent goes to the battle itself already psychologically defeated by the conditions created by its hosts, FC Platinum has set up to tame the jungle, which is generally notorious.
The kings of the Zimbabwean Prime Minister arrived in Madagascar with their own catering staff to prepare the food that they had used to prepare at home.
They also came with an interpreter to bridge the communication gap between this English-speaking team and the Malagasy French-speaking party.
Mapeza told his president, Evans Mutombeni, that the situation on the ground was bad but that he remained confident that the job could be completed this afternoon.
"They complained about the pitch saying that it would not allow them to play their usual game because of the condition of the surface. The coach says that the state of the playground is worse than he had expected.
"They are likely to play with knee bandages to avoid injury to the grbad they are not used to.
"But, above all, and most importantly, it's that they are ready and ready to play their first game in the Champions League." As for the weather, the coach says that everything is fine, Mutombeni said.
Mapeza is preparing to form a defensive formation and finish his work at home in a week when the opponents will go to Mandava for the second leg. At first glance, he will be joined by three central defenders and five defense circles, former Warrior defenseman Lawrence Mhlanga joining Gift Bello and defender Kelvin Moyo at the heart of the defense.
In the middle of the field, Devon Chafa, six-time winner of the championship, will be badociated with Winston Mhango and beast of burden Farai Madhanhanga, which has been a revelation this season. Wingbacks Elvis Moyo and Raphael Muduviwa will likely be deployed to provide the width.
Cameroon's Albert Eonde could be responsible for leading the team's hunt, backed by top league scorer Rodwell Chinyengetere.
Like FC Platinum, the organizers have not managed to stand out on the continental stage, but given the success of their national team qualifying for the AFC CAN finals in 2019, locals are optimistic about to progression and are confident.
The likely FC Platinum line-up
Petros Mhari, Elvis Moyo, Raphael Muduviwa, Don Bello, Lawrence Mhlanga, Kelvin Moyo, Winston Mhango, Chafa Devon, Farai Madhanhanga, Rodwell Chinyengetere, Albert Eonde
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