Pitso says he is going into the Mariveni United match blind
Maritzburg have to improve, and control the game better, says De Sa
MAMELODI Sundowns, the CAF Champions League and Super Cup holders, finally get a fixture that you would think coach Pitso Mosimane and his technical team have no business losing sleep over when they host fourth tier side Mariveni United in the last 32 of the Nedbank Cup tonight.
But Mosimane has admitted that this is “the blindest I have ever been” going into a match. Quite telling of the contrasting realities of the two sides if a coach who prides himself in meticulously doing his homework on the opposition has no clue what to expect.
“I tried to see what they are doing there, but there has been rain and their games have been called off lately,” said Mosimane of the Limpopo outfit currently campaigning in the SAB League. “This is the blindest I have ever been. It’s Okay. We shouldn’t have an excuse because sometimes we play Champions League games where we don’t have the footage of the opposition.”
Sundowns are no strangers to facing teams from the lower divisions having come up against Powerlines FC five years ago with Dutchman Johan Neeskens then coach. The scoreline was unforgettable – the Brazilians putting 24 goals past a hapless SAB League side that couldn’t even manage a consolation goal.
It is highly likely that Mosimane, pictured, will again defer to a rotation policy to keep his squad fresh as the games are coming in thick and fast. The Brazilians are still playing catch-up in their Absa Premiership schedule and it was only on Friday night that they reached the halfway point of the season, but remain five matches behind. Sundowns suffered a 1-0 defeat to Cape Town City at Athlone Stadium, with the result taking the Capetonians to the top of the table.
“They deserved the win because they are a good side that can play on the break. As Sundowns we can’t do that. We have to play football. We can’t wait because we always have to be on the forefront in a match, that is our culture,” Mosimane said of the loss.
“It’s for the public to interpret whether they won the title by beating us and we lost it (as defending champions) by losing the match. It is very difficult for me to talk about their title chances at this stage. They were fresh having rested for seven days, while we have games on Tuesdays and Fridays. The reason our cup match is on Monday is because we are playing a Champions League fixture on Friday (against Uganda’s Kampala Capital City Authority).” AFTER coming off second best in the league derby, Maritzburg United are looking ahead to another chance at redemption when they face Golden Arrows in a Nedbank Cup derby this weekend.
The Team of Choice lost 1-0 against their provincial rivals at the Princess Magogo Stadium in KwaMashu on Saturday. The result left Maritzburg coach Roger de Sa feeling disappointed because he believed they were good enough for a win, or at least draw.
Maritzburg hogged the ball for much of the opening period but were undone by Arrows’ resolute defence and fell behind to a late first-half header by Knox Mutizwa. They didn’t recover and thereafter struggled to break down an Arrows outfit who grew stronger the longer they held the lead, thanks largely to veteran defender Musa Bilankulu’s leadership in midfield.
For the clash in the last 32 stage of the Cup, the Midlands outfit will have to be more efficient with their attacks, said De Sa. “Overall we competed, fought and had a go, and I thought we were the better side over the 90 minutes, but didn’t score,” said the coach.
“If you don’t score, you don’t win. We’ll just have to carry on coaching and focus on lots of final third training. That’s an area we’re missing – their goalie didn’t have to make a save. We had only two shots on target, which we’ve got to improve, and control the game better.”
The Cup represents the other realistic goal that a mid-table side like Maritzburg can target. At the start of the season, Maritzburg outlined a top-eight finish in the league as well as a Cup final appearance.
“We’ll take the Cup seriously, come back here and give it our best shot. We don’t plan to give anyone a rest. We’ll select our best team.” THE MOTHER CITY has five representatives in the last 32 of the Nedbank Cup, which gets under way this week.
There is no doubt that Stellenbosch FC’s clash with Kaizer Chiefs is the stand-out fixture. Formerly known as Vasco da Gama, the NFD club was relocated to the Cape Winelands and renamed Stellenbosch FC, but if ever the club needed a stage to trumpet their arrival, then a game against Chiefs is certainly it.
The last-32 clash between Stellenbosch and Amakhosi is scheduled for Athlone Stadium on Saturday night (8.15pm kickoff ) – and it’s a classic case of David v Goliath. This is the scenario regularly created by the Nedbank Cup, which is based on the FA Cup, and now in its 10th edition, where lower-tier teams have an opportunity to take on illustrious top-flight opponents.
For Stellenbosch, the opposition doesn’t come more illustrious than Chiefs, the most popular football club in the country. Rest assured, the NFD outfit will be primed for this one. Two other Cape NFD clubs are also involved, with FC Cape Town hosting PSL basement side Baroka FC at the NNK Rugby Stadium in Parow on Saturday afternoon (3pm kickoff ).
Cape Town All Stars, though, will have to wait until next Wednesday for their fixture, when they are home to in-form Wits at the Athlone Stadium.
The two Cape PSL clubs have been drawn away to face Second Division opponents. Top-flight log leaders Cape Town City are in Mpumalanga on Sunday afternoon to face Acornbush United (3pm kickoff), while Ajax Cape Town head for KwaZulu-Natal to take on Kwadukuza United on Saturday (3pm kickoff ).
While, on the surface, the Cape PSL clubs shouldn’t have a problem, fixtures against lower-division opponents invariably comes with its banana peel connotations.