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according to late communication received from Caf just as the full squad, including Makopa, had already checked in at the Harare International Airport on Tuesday.

Makopa was slapped with a one-match suspension for the two yellow cards he received in both legs of the first round against Liga Muculmana and a third he acquired in last year’s edition of the same competition.

The information however came late after Makopa had already been named in Dynamos 18-man squad and coach Callisto Pasuwa will be forced to make adjustments to his squad in the absence of the box-to-box midfielder who had been expected to play a major role in Saturday’s tie that is set for the Olympiue de Rades Stadium in Tunis.

“Milton’s suspension is a big blow to us because these are big games and you need experienced and hardened players like him. He has been playing as a defensive linkman and was going to be very useful in this match because that’s the position we are plotting our strategy around.

“But well, I have three or four other players to fill the void. It is an opportunity for youngsters like Timire Mamvura to show he can play at a stage like this one,” Pasuwa told our Harare Bureau.

Mamvura, who enjoyed a brilliant season last year, had not seen much action this year with a previously injured Makopa replaced by Leo Kurauzvione in the holding position.

The Zimbabwean champions, bubbling with confidence from Sunday’s 4-1 mauling of police side Black Mambas in the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League at Rufaro, arrived here yesterday exactly 24 hours after an intercontinental flight that took them to Johannesburg from where they connected overnight to Dubai on an Emirates plane before setting off for Tunis in mid-morning and touching down at the Carthage International Airport at 2pm.

With their visas processed at the port of entry the delegation of 32 was then ferried to the coastal town of Al Marsa, 25 kms from the currently volatile capital and have been accommodated in a spacious deluxe hotel which is a five-minute drive from their training pitch. Team manager Richard ¨Nyoka¨ Chihoro, in an interview soon after a late lunch, said Dynamos had no hospitality complaints against their hosts.

“They have booked us in a good hotel and we are happy to have peace of mind ahead of the game. At this juncture I would like to assure our supporters back home that everything is well for us here and we are very much focused on the task awaiting us. We want to carry a good result for the second leg in Harare,” said Chihoro.

The eagerly anticipated clash, that some are equating to a final before the final, kicks off at 4pm (3pm Zimbabwean time) at the famous Rades Stadium that hosted the 2004 Africa Cup of Nations final won by the hosts Tunisia over fellow North Africans Morocco.

Dynamos and Esperance, who have met several times before with victory going either way, are vying for a slot in the mini-league phase of Africa’s mega club competition in the final elimination round and both will be fancying their chances after progressing safely from the previous round having been given a bye in the preliminary round.

Dynamos forced a gallant two-all draw with Liga Muculmana in Maputo in the first leg before dismissing the Mozambicans 1-0 in Harare two weeks later. Sensational striker Takesure Chinyama netted all the goals for his new side.

Esperance, who won last year’s competition courtesy of a two-legged victory over Wydad Casablanca from Morocco, accounted for little Brikama United of The Gambia 4-2 on aggregate after being held 1-1 in the first leg away in Banjul.

Esperance’s whereabouts had not been ascertained by last night but Dynamos hit the ground running with a one-hour training session on the Mediterrenean beach just opposite the hotel during which they mainly stretched their limbs.

Pasuwa announced two more training sessions for today and tomorrow, both to take place at the same time as Saturday’s kickoff time.

Revealing his strategy for the game, the DeMbare head coach said they were determined to restrict Esperance’s charge so as to make the task easier in the return leg set for two weeks time in Harare.

“We are playing the champions of Africa and there is need to be very cautious in the first half but we may open up as the game progresses. What is important is to reduce their chances of scoring and produce a low scoring first leg. I have watched one or two videos of their game but as you know playing systems change just like in our case when sometimes we play with one striker and sometimes with two and it is difficult to predict their formation.

“But I know they have a roving midfielder who attacks deep into your defensive midfield and we have made plans for him,” asserted Pasuwa.

Squad
Goalkeepers: W Arubi, P Nhete
Defenders: D Kutyauripo, T Mamvura, G Magariro, G Bello, P Jaure, A Mbara, O Mushure.
Midfielders: T Muparati, T Mabvura, D Chafa, M Makopa (suspended), D Mukamba
Strikers: T Chinyama, R Mutuma, M Murape, M Vengesayi