Robson Sharuko-Editor
DYNAMOS are on the verge of qualifying for the group stages of CAF’s second-tier inter-club tournament for the first time in 33 years when they take on Orapa United in Botswana on Sunday.
The Glamour Boys have one foot in the group stages after a fine 1-0 win in the first leg, which was also played in Botswana, last Sunday.
Lloyd “MaBlanyo” Chigowe’s men are yet to concede a goal in four-and-half hours of action on their return to the CAF inter-club tournaments after a decade-long absence.
A 1-2 defeat on Sunday will take Orapa United through, on the away goals rule even though both games would have been played in their backyard.
CAF have stuck to the away goals rule even though UEFA has moved away from using this system to determine winners of such clashes.
The Confederation Cup is the new millennium version of the Cup Winners Cup, a tournament in which Dynamos qualified for the quarter-finals in 1991.
That DeMbare side thrashed Maxaquene of Mozambique 7-1 on aggregate in the first round before dismissing Diables Noirs of Congo-Brazzaville 3-1 on aggregate.
However, their journey ended in the quarter-finals when Dynamos crashed to a 1-4 aggregate loss to BCC Lions of Nigeria.
BBC Lions went all the way to the final where they lost 4-5 to Power Dynamos of Zambia.
Having already dumped a Zambian side in the campaign, Dynamos will be hoping they can borrow a leaf from their Copperbelt namesake and now only reach the final but win this year’s Confederation Cup.
Those dreams can only come true if they clear this weekend’s hurdle in Botswana.
Fourteen years have passed since the Glamour Boys featured in the group stages of a CAF inter-club tournament and that was in the 2010 Champions League.
Back then, DeMbare were one of the top sides on the continent, having reached the semi-finals of the 2008 Champions League, against all expectations.
This isn’t the case right now.
But, DeMbare’s leaders can argue that they have to start learning to walk again, which means a good run in the Confederation Cup, but they dream of running with the wolves found in the Champions League.
It has been a fine return for them so far but MaBlanyo now knows that expectations among their fans have risen and that comes with both pressure and responsibility.
He also knows that, after all that his men have done so far, failure to clear the final hurdle will destroy all their good work on their return to the CAF inter-club tournament.
It’s something MaBlanyo will love to carry, as a badge of honour, telling everyone who cares to listen that he was the first coach to take Dynamos to the group stages of the CAF second-tier inter-club competition in 33 years.