Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. SIMBA Bhora coach Joel Luphahla has expressed satisfaction with his team’s draw in the upcoming Caf Champions League, where they will face Nsingizini Hotspurs of Eswatini in the preliminary round.
Luphahla, whose team is making its debut in Africa’s premier club competition, is optimistic about the matchup against a fellow Southern African opponent.
The Shamva-based club has set its sights on reaching the lucrative group stages of the tournament.
“It’s good for us because we’ve been drawn with a team from the southern region, a Cosafa team,” Luphahla said. “The style of play is not much different from ours.”
The coach highlighted a potential advantage for Simba Bhora, noting that the Swazi league has not yet started or is in its early stages.
“We take that advantage because we are better in terms of fitness,” he said.
“We’ve competed for eight months now.”
Simba Bhora will host the first leg between September 19 and 22, with the return leg scheduled for the following week.
Adding to the good news for the defending league champions is the approval of the National Sports Stadium by Caf to host Champions League and Confederation Cup matches.
The stadium has been undergoing significant renovations and was on Monday cleared for these games, as well as age-group competitions.
Luphahla also revealed a key strategic advantage. The team’s new left-back, Nomore Tsabora, played for Nsingizini Hotspurs last season and helped them win the league title.
“We have a player that was playing there in Nomore, so we are hoping that we can use his influence to make sure that we get all the information that we need,” Luphahla said.
The coach confirmed that the club’s management has set a clear target for the team of reaching the group stages.
“They’ve said we need to try and go to the group stages,” Luphahla said.
“I think for any team that has never played in the Champions League before, the goal is to go to the group stages. If we go to the group stages, I think we will have achieved our goal. This is a team from Shamva, and we are living our dream.”
Should Simba Bhora advance past Nsingizini Hotspurs, they will face a formidable challenger in the form of a winner of the tie between Tanzanian giants Simba SC and Gaborone United of Botswana for a ticket into the group stages.
But before they can think of the Caf Champions League, the immediate challenge for Simba Bhora is to defend the league title after they were booted out of the Chibuku Super Cup at the weekend.
They were eliminated from the competition after losing 4-3 on penalties to Dynamos in the first round of the competition on Saturday.
The match had ended 1-1 in regulation time, with Simba Bhora conceding an 82nd-minute equaliser through Felix Hammond to force the match into a penalty shootout.
Boid Mutukure had given the home side a sixth-minute lead, a goal that looked enough to clinch the game before the late collapse.
Simba Bhora, who lead the league title race with 10 matches remaining, travel to third-placed MWOS on Saturday in a match they just have to win.
Luphahla’s men could be second by the time this match kicks off at Ngoni Stadium in Norton if second-placed Scottland, who trail by a point, avoid a defeat at home to ZPC Kariba on Friday.
Castle Lager Premier Soccer League matchday 25 fixtures
Friday: Scottland v ZPC Kariba (Rufaro).
Saturday: Chicken Inn v Manica Diamonds (Luveve), MWOS v Simba Bhora (Ngoni), Ngezi Platinum Stars v Bikita Minerals (Baobab), GreenFuel v Herentals (GreenFuel Arena).
Sunday: Caps United v Yadah (Rufaro), Triangle v FC Platinum (Gibbo), Highlanders v TelOne (Barbourfields), Kwekwe United v Dynamos (Ascot).
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