Shaka Zulu: City must man up
AS CITY prepare to face AmaZulu for the second time in the space of five days, Benni McCarthy is hoping for a change in fortune in front of goal. If there’s a player McCarthy would love to see come good, it’s burly striker Siphelele Mthembu.
The well-travelled 31-year-old has played for Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates, Bloemfontein Celtic, Golden Arrows, Platinum Stars and Free State Stars. Since his arrival at City at the start of the season, McCarthy has always rated the man he calls “Shaka Zulu”. Mthembu is a powerful, hard-running forward and, with his physical presence and lay-off ability, he is able to set up scoring chances for teammates. McCarthy loves such unselfish, hardworking footballers, but he also wants Mthembu to be more prolific in front of goal.
City come off a 2-0 defeat to AmaZulu in the opening round of the Telkom Knockout, and head coach McCarthy is wrestling with two issues: the team’s inability to convert opportunities into goals; and the exasperation of watching the continued inconsistency of his players. Now, back in action tomorrow, they face the same opposition – AmaZulu – in a league fixture at the Cape Town Stadium (8.15pm).
At the moment, the Cape side is third-from-bottom on the standings. McCarthy will ring the changes against AmaZulu tomorrow, discarding those who disappointed in the Cup defeat earlier in the week. City have not scored in their last four fixtures, including their MTN8 success, which ended goalless after 120 minutes and McCarthy’s team winning on penalties.
Mthembu was frank about the team’s dire situation.
“It’s not good to lose,” Mthembu reflected on the loss to AmaZulu. “It’s now time for us to man up, to stand up as a team moving forward. We have to focus on the league and improve our position.
“As for the problem of scoring goals, we have to face it as a collective; we have to fight as a team. It’s not a case of focusing on one department only, it’s the responsibility of all departments in the team to say we will be clinical when we get a chance to score.”