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Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Acting Sports Editor
FC PLATINUM troop into the Mandava Stadium turf this afternoon to face visiting AS Otoho in the second leg of the Total Caf Champions League match with the Congolese scars of ill-treatment still fresh.

The Zvishavane miners were inhumanly treated from their arrival at Maya Maya airport in Congo Brazzavile on Thursday morning where the hosts failed to provide an escort and proper transport to ferry the players to their hotel.

When they got into the hotel in the City centre they were greeted by loud music bellowing from the foyer and some mock modelling contest later in the evening, all clearly meant to distract the players ahead of the match.

After settling down having flown from Addis Ababa, Norman Mapeza’s players faced yet another challenge as there was no transport to take them to Stade Alphonse Massemba-Débat for training. The club was later forced to hire taxis and by then an hour of practice time had already been lost.

Upon arrival at the training venue they found the gates locked and had to use an outside ground which had very poor turf.

“Everyone knows what happened when we went to Congo, that situation alone should motivate us to work hard. I can confidently say the guys are really motivated and are eager to finish off the job on Saturday (today)and we would like to call upon everyone to give us that extra push,” said Mapeza during a press conference on Thursday.

The reigning Coach of the Year, whose side secured a 1-1 draw against the Congolese under very volatile conditions, said they had little time to fully assess their opponents as their focus was diverted as a result of the Togolese referees’ poor officiating when they played their opponents at the Stade Marien Nguabi.

“They are a very good side but it was a bit difficult for us to fully concentrate on their game as it was us against the referees all the time, the officiating was hell for us. We know the challenges that we are going to face on Saturday (today) but we also hope to get all the support from everyone. We will make sure that we get a positive result because everybody knows the importance of this game not only to this club but to the nation,” said Mapeza.

Missing in action for today’s encounter will be Kevin Moyo who did not travel for the first leg due to injury while Rahman Kutsanzira was to be assessed yesterday to see if he is now fit for the match.

“I think Kevin still needs some time off to fully recover while we will look at Rahman tomorrow (yesterday) to see if he can take part,” said Mapeza.

The match will be handled by Djibouti nationals. According to information from Caf, referee Souleiman Ahmed Djamal will be assisted by his fellow countrymen Salah Arbi Mohammed and Rachid Waiss Bouraleh.

Pure Platinum need to avoid a defeat or a scoring draw to sail through to the group stages of the tournament for the first time in their history.

Qualification to the group stages will guarantee the Zimbabwean champions more than half a million dollars after Caf increased the prize money for all its competitions.

The Congolese outfit touched down at the Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport yesterday.