Dembare Lose Again
FC Platinum piled more woes on whinging Dynamos coach Paulo Jorge Silva by putting the Harare giants to the sword in the Independence Cup third-place play-off at a packed White City yesterday.
There were reports last night that Silva had been relieved of his duties after a miserable start to his tenure as the Glamour Boys coach.Silva has been seeing ghosts since his arrival at Dynamos and fresh from forcing the club to axe goalkeepers' coach Gift Muzadzi for alleged sabotage, the Portuguese coach yesterday pointed an accusing finger at four players he declined to name.
While Silva was pacing animatedly in his technical area, FC Platinum seized control of the game and took the lead in the 22nd minute through Obrey Chirwa's header from a corner kick after goalkeeper Tatenda Mukuruva failed to deal with the cross.
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| Dembare Lose Again |
FC Platinum coach Norman Mapeza was forced to bring in first choice goalkeeper Petros Mhari after his deputy Francis Tizayi collided with a Dynamos player inside the box in the 54th minute. Tizayi suffered a broken finger and was taken to hospital for treatment.
Two minutes after Tizayi's departure, Valentine Ndaba almost pulled one back for the Harare giants, but his shot was brilliantly tipped over the bar by Mhari.
A visibly angry Silva pointed a finger at goalkeeper Mukuruva for the corner kick blunder that resulted in FC Platinum's first goal.
"The goalkeeper made another mistake in the first half from a corner kick and I'm getting tired of those mistakes because I know he can do better," said Silva in his post match interview.
He also suggested that he was being sabotaged by a number of players, whom he accused of changing his game plan in the first half.
Assistant coach Lloyd Mutasa also weighed in on the alleged sabotage, but declined to identify the "saboteurs". "I'm not at liberty to disclose the names of the players before we inform the president (Kenny Mubaiwa), but it's clear that something was not going right in the first half," said Mutasa.
Despite the defeat, Silva still believes his team is still work in progress and that favourable results will eventually come.
"I'm happy with the performance of some players that started the game today. We played badly in the first half and we were punished for that. I came here with a plan, which was to win, but you could see I had three players on the bench. We need to work on the strikers to get goals," Silva lamented.
Mapeza was satisfied with his fringe players' performances.
"I do not believe in fringe players because everyone that is registered with the team is a quality player and the results today show that we have depth in the squad. The guys played well, although they tired at some point and we were also forced to make two injury-inspired substitutions," said Mapeza.
Teams
FC Platinum: F. Tizayi (P. Mhari, 55 mins), S. Shoko, L. Sithole (G Bello. 65mins), R/ Sibanda, I. Nekati, G. Takwara, W. Kamudyarira, R. Chinyengetere, I Wadi (W Musona 27 mins), T Rukanda, O. Chirwa
Dynamos: T. Makuruva, O. Mwerahari, O. Mushure, S. Linyama, A. Mbara (M. Nyakasaka, 39mins), T. Chipunza, D. Mukandi (B Amidu 46 min), V. Ndaba, G. Murwira, K. Nsama, C. Rusere.
FC Platinum ... ... ... ... ... ... ... (2)
Dynamos ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... .. 0
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