Phala: Mazembe will be wary of us
JOHANNESBURG: A confident Thuso Phala boldly predicts that SuperSport United will exploit TP Mazembe’s greatest strength by turning it into a weakness to win their maiden Caf Confederation Cup.
Matsatsantsa take on the African powerhouse – winners of 10 continental titles – on Sunday in the first leg of the final at Stade TP Mazembe in Lubumbashi.
The last time SuperSport visited Mazembe, the fans who filled Stade TP Mazembe weren’t too pleased with their team. They booed the Ravens off the field, angry that they were held to a 2-2 draw by Matsatsantsa in the group stage. But they also applauded SuperSport for their gallant fight before letting their players have it.
“We are going to go to Mazembe and turn the crowd against them,” Phala said. “When you have a big support base and those fans are used to winning, they turn against you quickly when things aren’t going well. We have seen that happen even here at home. We have to go there, play good football and turn their fans against them, which would be to our advantage.”
SuperSport flew to the Democratic Republic of the Congo this morning with Morgan Gould, who landed with the Bafana Bafana contingency yesterday. Gould is there to give his team support, while he and Reneilwe Letsholonyane serve their suspensions.
SuperSport booked their place in the final the hard way after drawing the home leg in the quarter-finals and semifinals, which saw them play for their lives in front of hostile crowds against Zesco United and Club Africain.
“I think we had a tougher route to the final than Mazembe,” Phala said. “They will be weary of us even though they will be playing at home.
“We must use that to our advantage. We want an away goal. We aren’t going to sit back and say: ‘Ah, we are playing against the mighty Mazembe, so we need to be cautious’. We will attack them and look for that goal.”
Eric Tinkler will assess the tournament’s top goalscorer, Jeremy Brockie, before deciding on whether to start him. The Kiwi forward landed this morning from Peru, via Brazil, and immediately flew to the DRC with his teammates. But jet lag will be the least of Brockie’s worries as his team has a shot at making history.
“I think sometimes we tend to make a meal of ‘hostile environments’,” Phala said. “You can go somewhere and your flight is delayed, something that the team you’re facing has nothing to do with. But because you have the mindset that everyone is out to get you, you start panicking thinking that this is part of their plans to unsettle you.
“When we went to Liberia, we couldn’t land and had to fly around for two hours. We were able to endure that because we are mentally stronger. We went to Tunisia and had an experience of a lifetime with the crowd. It’s all in the mind.”