Cosmos battle demons and opposition
PLAYING their first game of the NFD season at Olen Park stadium was always going to be a bit difficult for Jomo Cosmos. Even Jomo Sono, the Cosmos club owner, admitted to this.
This is, after all, the very same venue where Ezenkosi failed to hold on to their place in the country’s elite league – the Absa Premiership – their demotion after just a season confirmed at the Potchefstroom arena.
Maritzburg United had beaten them 3-1 on the final day of last season, forcing them straight back into the National First Division (NFD). And this is the harsh reality Sono’s players had to deal with when they hosted FC Cape Town in the North West town they call home on Sunday.
They were now back in the country’s second tier division where they had laboured so hard to escape two seasons before.
Sono admitted that his players felt dejected ahead of the weekend’s clash which ended in a 1-1 draw, and that he had to lift their spirits up with words of encouragement to produce the needed result.
“Most people don’t realise this, but players are human beings first before they are these superstars people rave about,” Sono said. “They have feelings. They get hurt. They get disappointed. You cannot treat them like they are machines, and always push for positive results in each and every match they get to play in. You just cannot. You will have to deal with the mental aspect of the game as well, if you are to win anything as a coach.
“And this is what I had to do ahead of this match,” he added. “I had to sit them down and make them understand that it wasn’t entirely their fault that we got relegated last season. These things happened in football. Sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. It’s all part of the game. What’s key is how you move on from those bad experiences and fight to produce positive outcomes.”
While a win would have been a desirable outcome for Sono to kick start their campaign, The Black Prince of South African football said he was pleased with how his charges carried themselves on the day, despite his team being without five senior players.
“Five of my senior players couldn’t play in this match due to the fact that their work permits are still pending,” said the former Bafana Bafana coach. “I had to rope in some of our junior players from our development structures into the starting line-up to help us out, and they did extremely well I must add.
“Some of them were debutants and you could tell they were a bit nervous in the way the played, especially in the first period. But things took a different turn in the second half. We were all over our opponents. We created a whole lot of scoring chances, however, lacked the needed composure to punish them off. I’m not saying that we are going to win the league, but what I can assure is that Cosmos are going to be a very difficult side to beat this season.”