The Ostriches qualified for the group stages after defeating Dynamos of Zimbabwe 3-1 through penalties at the Obed Itani Chilume Stadium on Sunday, in the return leg of the second preliminary round tie. By qualifying for the group stages, Orapa are guaranteed P5 million in prize money. Heading into the match, Dynamos needed just a draw to advance to the group stages, having won by a solitary goal in the away first leg fixture, which was also played at the Obed Itani Chilume Stadium. However, a second half own goal by Dynamo’s Frank Makarati, levelled the score to 1-1, meaning that the two sides had to go for penalties after regulation time to decide the winner.
Dynamos chose to play the second leg at Obed Itani because Zimbabwe does not have a suitable venue to host CAF sanctioned matches. Malapela directly saved two penalties during the penalty shoot-out while the other one went over the bar. He also saved a penalty during regulation time. It was also a sweet debut for Orapa United mentor, Dimitar Pantev. He was unveiled as United coach few weeks ago but until Sunday, he was unable to sit on the bench owing to work permit challenges. “Credit should go to the whole team. It was a team effort. We just had to keep on going. The coach told us that we have to believe in ourselves and trust that we can win the match. We did and it paid off,” an elated Malapela said after the match. Malapela also reserved special praise to the Ostriches second choice goalkeeper, Keeagile Kgosipula. “We have a very strong relationship. We hang around each other more often. He is like a brother to me. He always pushes me to work hard and I do likewise. Skeza (Kgosipula) has been great to me,” he said. In a post-match interview, Pantev was also full of praise for Malapela. “Difficult game. I was not satisfied with our first half performance. We had to change the system. I think the second half was better. We kept the ball and created some chances. I want to congratulate our goalkeeper because he kept us in the game by saving a penalty in the first,” he said.
Pantev believes that their weekend match against Dynamos will to some extent set a very good tone for his side going into the 2024/2025 league season, which starts this weekend. “Today’s win will give us more confidence going forward. The boys now trust their ability,” Pantev said. Pantev added that he believes that the squad he has assembled will cope with the tight CAF and domestic league schedule. He emphasised that rotation will be key to enable players to cope with the demanding schedule.
