Collen Nikisi, Sports Reporter
Norman Mapeza says he is proud of his players’ fighting spirit despite FC Platinum training for only three weeks for the CAF Champions League preliminary round first leg against GD Sagranda Esperance of Angola which ended in a 0-0 draw away from home.
Very few people gave FC Platinum a chance of getting a point considering the limited time they had in preparing for the encounter against the current Angolan Champions.
“I am proud of how my guys played, it was not an easy game considering the fact that we were playing a team which has been very competitive. They have been playing football regularly for the past year,” Mapeza said.
“The boys played really well despite us only training for three weeks. It was a massive performance from the boys. It was a good game of football.”
Mapeza’s boys were a match to their more fancied opponents in the entire match.
However, with about fifteen minutes of time left including the referee’s optional time the Zimbabwe champions were dealt a heavy blow when left back Kelvin Mangiza was shown a second yellow card and was subsequently given the marching orders.
However, FC Platinum remained resolute repelling everything the opponent threw at them. FC Platinum will host the Angolan champions on Saturday at the National Sports Stadium in the return leg.
Mapeza hopes for a positive result at home.
“We just hope when we play them at home on Saturday we will be able to get a positive result,” he added.
