Brito out to upset the stakes

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HIGHLANDERS coach Baltemar Brito

HIGHLANDERS coach Baltemar Brito is not reading much into history, which is against his side, as they host champions FC Platinum in a Castle Lager Premier Soccer League match at Barbourfields Stadium on Sunday.

Bosso have failed to beat FC Platinum in the league over the past nine years and even under Brito’s watch last year, the Norman Mapeza-coached side collected all the three points at BF after beating the Bulawayo giants 3-2 in front of their home crowd.

Brito replaced Mandla Mpofu midway through the season last year and is aiming for the league title this year.

But the Highlanders gaffer, who respects FC Platinum, is a man on a mission and his quest is to win every game.

“Our mission as the technical team is not to look into the past, but the next game and we want to win every next match, so we will try to win this game. We will do everything to win it. These (records) are just statistics and records and they can be broken. We are going to try and break these records because our next game is against FC Platinum and of course we want to win that game,” Brito said.

He was away in his home country when Highlanders, under assistant coach Madinda Ndlovu, played a goalless draw against ZPC Kariba in their first game at BF.

Brito flew back into the country last week after attending a Union of European Football Associations (Uefa) A refresher course and presided over Highlanders, breaking another jinx when they upstaged Black Rhinos 1-0 at the National Sports Stadium in Harare last Saturday.

Highlanders had not beaten Black Rhinos in Harare since 2013.

Mckinnon Mushore was on target for the Bulawayo giants to claim victory against the army side.

Highlanders desperately need a win over FC Platinum to boost their confidence as they have two tough matches coming up after Sunday, against Chicken Inn and Dynamos, both at BF.

With the transfer window having closed yesterday, the Bulawayo giants were still grappling registration challenges for striker Calvin Chigonero, grabbed from Division One side Talen Vision as well as defenders Marvelous Chigumira and Elshamar Farasi from TelOne and Bulawayo City, respectively.

FC Platinum are, however, in a no nonsense mood, kicking off the season by nicking the Castle Challenge Cup after beating Bulawayo Chiefs at Mandava, before winning their first two games in the league, the first away against Simba Bhora and the second over Cranborne Bullets at home.

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