Sports / Soccer
FC Platinum’s bumpy ride
25 Mar 2012 at 05:51hrs | Views
FC Platinum (1) 2
El-Merreikh (Sudan) (2) 2
Sudanese outfit El-Merreikh took full advantage of the psychological blow dealt to their hosts by the misdirected Confederation of African Football to emerge with two vital away goals in the first leg of their African Champions League first-round encounter at Rufaro Stadium yesterday.
It was evident from the whistle that FC Platinum would take long to adjust to an imposed pitch after Caf's dubious decision to move the game from its original Mandava venue on spurious grounds that had not mattered when the Zvishavane miners booked their ticket at the expense of neighbourly Green Mamba of Swaziland earlier this month.
It was instead El-Merreikh feeling very much at home after their last voyage to face Highlanders in 2007 again terminated in Harare as the Bulawayo side opted to play at Gwanzura, having failed to secure accommodation in the City of Kings owing to a concurrent Zimbabwe International Trade Fair.
And it was a blinding sight as the visitors, boasting four players in the Sudan national team and another from African champions Zambia, assumed maximum control of the early proceedings and twice took the lead while their back-pedalling hosts only battled to keep their guests in check.
But to their full credit, coach Rahman Gumbo's boys fought back gallantly and ensured a tantalising contest in Khartoum in two weeks' time, thanks to classy equalisers by new-season signing Michelle Katsvairo and hard-working midfielder Joel Ngodzo.
Norman Togara will not be part of that trip after the industrious defender completed his Champions League hiatus with a red card from the strict Mauritian referee for a second bookable offence two minutes to the end of regulation time.
FC Platinum's assistant coach, Tendai Chikuni, was happy with his team's perfomance despite conceding two goals on home soil.
"We did not play quite well in the first half of the match as we had our players congested in the midfield but overally we had a good game. It was evident that our opposition had towering players which made it a challenge four our own players to break through," he said.
With the colossal Sudanese players dominating possession in the opening period, during which Daniel Veremu was the first local to enjoy a sniff of the ball in the third minute by merely heading into touch, Platinum only got into their element after five minutes of play.
Gifted link-cum-striker Charles Sibanda announced his presence with characteristically sleek touches that instantly lifted his teammates' morale, the effect of which was some purposeful midfield play by the trio of Ngodzo, Allan Gahadzikwa and Cabby Kamhapa.
Ngodzo even capitalised on scrappy defending to test Sudan's African Cup of Nations goalkeeper Akram El-Hadi, and narrowly missed target with a rising shot that flew above both the goalie and the crossbar.
The moment every spectator among the pleasant 10 000 crowd was dreading eventually arrived in the 18th minute.
Ugandan international midfielder Mike Matyoba latched on to a left-sided counter-attack mounted by defender Mudather Eltaib following Katsvairo's lame attempt in the box and let fly a thunderous 30-metre drive that wheezed above a diving Tafadzwa Dube to nestle into the far corner of his left net.
But like wounded tigers, the continental debutants refused to give up culminating in young Katsvairo displaying his scholarly attributes in rectifying for his earlier misses with a
33rd minute deft flick of Sibanda's centre in the box that gave no chance to fooled goalkeeper Elhadi.
The home side's celebrations were to be brief, however, as Sudanese international Sayyid Mustapha ghosted into the box unnoticed a minute after Platinum's goal and connected Raji Abdel-Aati's left-flank corner kick with a lightning-quick header that caught Dube totally unawares.
With Veremu and twin centre-back Gilbert Banda executing their roles in comforting style, shutting out deadly Zambian international and Sudan's Golden Boot winner Jonas Saruwaha, the Platinum bench was forced to bench captain Zephaniah Ngodzo, from whose edge both goals had been conceded, for Togara whose impact was immediate.
A few sprints down his flank in the closing stages of the first half had the majority Dynamos supporters ululating in the Vietnam stand before the former DeMbare right-back raised the tempo after the restart with the physical stamina that had previously lacked in Platinum's character.
The second half was nothing like the first as Gumbo's charges, urged on by the relentless crowd, finally found their feet and looked set to turn the tie on its head with some enchanting ball play that was rewarded in the 53rd minute when the younger Ngodzo stung the net with a hard and low close-range effort from within a crowded box.
The Central Africans tried to regain their lead in the 86th minute but Dube saved the day with an acrobatic double save to smother Mustaffa's cracker and Musab's rebound.
There was little further goal-mouth action, thanks in part to Togara's intervention on behalf of his side that earned him both a send-off and a standing ovation from the supportive audience.
Acquiring his first yellow card in the 79th minute for hacking down a goal-bound Omar Musab, Togara, who did not feature in the preliminary round of the competition, departed for an early shower in the 88th minute after a second harsh challenge on the same opponent during an aerial tussle, to close the two sides' highly eventful meeting.
El Merreikh's coach acknowledged it was still game on.
"It was a good game and FC Platinum is a very strong team. I would say the result leaves the game open even though we have scored away from home," said Heron Ricardo Ferreira.
Teams:
FC Platinum: Dube, Ngodzo (Togara, 40th min), Amin, G. Banda, Veremu, Kamhapa, Ngodzo, Gahadzikwa, Sibanda (Mavundi, 82nd), Katsvairo (K. Banda, 46th) , Sadiki.
El-Merreikh: A. Elhadi, Baskal, M. Eltaib, P. Gabir, A. Elbasha, S. Mustaffa, Matyoba (Raji, 34th min), Kelechaiosunua, J. Sakuwaha (Musab, 46th min), Adiko, N. Eldinu.
El-Merreikh (Sudan) (2) 2
Sudanese outfit El-Merreikh took full advantage of the psychological blow dealt to their hosts by the misdirected Confederation of African Football to emerge with two vital away goals in the first leg of their African Champions League first-round encounter at Rufaro Stadium yesterday.
It was evident from the whistle that FC Platinum would take long to adjust to an imposed pitch after Caf's dubious decision to move the game from its original Mandava venue on spurious grounds that had not mattered when the Zvishavane miners booked their ticket at the expense of neighbourly Green Mamba of Swaziland earlier this month.
It was instead El-Merreikh feeling very much at home after their last voyage to face Highlanders in 2007 again terminated in Harare as the Bulawayo side opted to play at Gwanzura, having failed to secure accommodation in the City of Kings owing to a concurrent Zimbabwe International Trade Fair.
And it was a blinding sight as the visitors, boasting four players in the Sudan national team and another from African champions Zambia, assumed maximum control of the early proceedings and twice took the lead while their back-pedalling hosts only battled to keep their guests in check.
But to their full credit, coach Rahman Gumbo's boys fought back gallantly and ensured a tantalising contest in Khartoum in two weeks' time, thanks to classy equalisers by new-season signing Michelle Katsvairo and hard-working midfielder Joel Ngodzo.
Norman Togara will not be part of that trip after the industrious defender completed his Champions League hiatus with a red card from the strict Mauritian referee for a second bookable offence two minutes to the end of regulation time.
FC Platinum's assistant coach, Tendai Chikuni, was happy with his team's perfomance despite conceding two goals on home soil.
"We did not play quite well in the first half of the match as we had our players congested in the midfield but overally we had a good game. It was evident that our opposition had towering players which made it a challenge four our own players to break through," he said.
With the colossal Sudanese players dominating possession in the opening period, during which Daniel Veremu was the first local to enjoy a sniff of the ball in the third minute by merely heading into touch, Platinum only got into their element after five minutes of play.
Gifted link-cum-striker Charles Sibanda announced his presence with characteristically sleek touches that instantly lifted his teammates' morale, the effect of which was some purposeful midfield play by the trio of Ngodzo, Allan Gahadzikwa and Cabby Kamhapa.
Ngodzo even capitalised on scrappy defending to test Sudan's African Cup of Nations goalkeeper Akram El-Hadi, and narrowly missed target with a rising shot that flew above both the goalie and the crossbar.
The moment every spectator among the pleasant 10 000 crowd was dreading eventually arrived in the 18th minute.
But like wounded tigers, the continental debutants refused to give up culminating in young Katsvairo displaying his scholarly attributes in rectifying for his earlier misses with a
33rd minute deft flick of Sibanda's centre in the box that gave no chance to fooled goalkeeper Elhadi.
The home side's celebrations were to be brief, however, as Sudanese international Sayyid Mustapha ghosted into the box unnoticed a minute after Platinum's goal and connected Raji Abdel-Aati's left-flank corner kick with a lightning-quick header that caught Dube totally unawares.
With Veremu and twin centre-back Gilbert Banda executing their roles in comforting style, shutting out deadly Zambian international and Sudan's Golden Boot winner Jonas Saruwaha, the Platinum bench was forced to bench captain Zephaniah Ngodzo, from whose edge both goals had been conceded, for Togara whose impact was immediate.
A few sprints down his flank in the closing stages of the first half had the majority Dynamos supporters ululating in the Vietnam stand before the former DeMbare right-back raised the tempo after the restart with the physical stamina that had previously lacked in Platinum's character.
The second half was nothing like the first as Gumbo's charges, urged on by the relentless crowd, finally found their feet and looked set to turn the tie on its head with some enchanting ball play that was rewarded in the 53rd minute when the younger Ngodzo stung the net with a hard and low close-range effort from within a crowded box.
The Central Africans tried to regain their lead in the 86th minute but Dube saved the day with an acrobatic double save to smother Mustaffa's cracker and Musab's rebound.
There was little further goal-mouth action, thanks in part to Togara's intervention on behalf of his side that earned him both a send-off and a standing ovation from the supportive audience.
Acquiring his first yellow card in the 79th minute for hacking down a goal-bound Omar Musab, Togara, who did not feature in the preliminary round of the competition, departed for an early shower in the 88th minute after a second harsh challenge on the same opponent during an aerial tussle, to close the two sides' highly eventful meeting.
El Merreikh's coach acknowledged it was still game on.
"It was a good game and FC Platinum is a very strong team. I would say the result leaves the game open even though we have scored away from home," said Heron Ricardo Ferreira.
Teams:
FC Platinum: Dube, Ngodzo (Togara, 40th min), Amin, G. Banda, Veremu, Kamhapa, Ngodzo, Gahadzikwa, Sibanda (Mavundi, 82nd), Katsvairo (K. Banda, 46th) , Sadiki.
El-Merreikh: A. Elhadi, Baskal, M. Eltaib, P. Gabir, A. Elbasha, S. Mustaffa, Matyoba (Raji, 34th min), Kelechaiosunua, J. Sakuwaha (Musab, 46th min), Adiko, N. Eldinu.
Source - SM
