It’s going to be an eye-opener
On their CAF Champions League opener
The first leg of the CAF Champions League first preliminary round match against Otoho d’Oyo went very well, but there is also the second leg coming up, so it’s not yet over.
Our performance was good because we wanted the result maybe a little bit more considering the ball possession that we had in the game. We played the first leg at home and we knew that we had to get as much as possible as far as the result is concerned. But having said that, we also knew we had to worry about the (possibility of an) away goal at some stage in the game. We went forward, and in my opinion, we should have scored more goals – we had lots of chances to kill the game off. Now we have to go to Congo and try to get an away goal. And Otoho d’Oyo is a very difficult team to play against, they played long balls. I don’t know if they’re going to play long balls in the second leg at home, but this side we knew they were going to play that way. We had one game to analyze them and we knew that was what they were going to do. We had all the ball possession in the first half, but it’s difficult, you know. We need to finish our chances not just in the CAF Champions League but in the domestic league as well because in the third part of the field, we haven’t been great.
On the Champions League compared to the PSL
I’m sure the Champions League is different compared to the domestic league, but it’s hard to tell because we played in CAF before but never in the Champions League, so this is our first time. These guys are better opposition. I don’t know if this is the strongest team we have played against, maybe we are going to see the difference when we travel there. I think it’s going to be an eye-opener. Not for everyone, but for some players it’s not a new experience and we have a coach (Eric Tinkler) who has been in this competition before. These are big boys, they’re strong, they’re quick and they keep the ball, but we have to play our game, you know. If we stick to our game, we can succeed, but if we start getting into a physical battle with them, it will be difficult because they are much stronger. I think they came here for a draw from the beginning and they started wasting time every time the ball went out for a goal kick. They will be competitive and aggressive in the second leg. Our approach in the second leg has to be that of a team that want goals and put them in a difficult situation. We are an attacking team. Obviously we can’t go crazy, we have to defend the lead like we did against TS Galaxy. We need to know that our team is drilled in those situations. We have an attacking team, we go out to win games, we never go out to draw – we don’t do that.
On Mayo and Gonzalez’s red-hot form
Khanyisa Mayo has started the season brilliantly well and scored some goals in the PSL, he has done well and we are happy with him. When he plays at number nine, he is good; when he plays wide, he is brilliant and has an eye for goal. He is a youngster with an eye for a goal. He can also create, but we have yet to see the best of him. Darwin Gonzalez, as well, has done very well. In the last few games, he has probably been one of our best defensive players. Him and (Brice) Ambina have done really well. The thing about Gonzalez, last season when he came in, he didn’t have a pre-season with us and as good as he was last season, I think he is going to be even better this season. He is a top player. After this season started, we lost goalkeeper Hugo Marques and Darren Keet has done tremendously well. You know in some teams in the PSL, with the number two (goalkeeper) you are never quite sure, but we were lucky that was never the case with us. We knew what Darren was capable of. And people must remember that when Darren came to us, he was supposed to be our number one, and the reason he was not our number one is not because he wasn’t playing properly, the reason was because he had an injury. We knew that he was going to show his quality once he started playing, that was unquestionable, and he has kept some clean sheets already. We needed to tidy up a little bit in our defence because we started off badly conceding goals because we didn’t have a lot of our defenders in the pre-season and that’s always the problem. Terrence Mashego came back from the national team injured and Thamsanqa Mkhize got injured just before the first game and there is nothing we can do when that happens. We needed to sort out our defence, plus the goalkeeper leaving, but things are looking better.
On progress in the league
We are making good progress in the league moving towards the end of the year. When the season started, we needed to tweak a few things, we needed to wait for our main players to come back from injuries, so the start was not great. But you know the way things are going in the league at the moment, if you put in a good performance and win two or three games, you are out of the bottom and at the top challenging. We have to get back where we want to be, at the top. Our defence is back where we want it to be, we are scoring and things are looking better. Now we just have to balance properly. We have situations that we haven’t had before. We have to worry about Africa and we have to worry about the domestic league, so the rotation becomes important. You look at our midfield with Thabo Nodada and Mduduzi Mdantsane – these are top, top players and our rotation has been going well. So, we are ready for both competitions.
And with the FIFA World Cup break coming up, I think it’s going to help us. It means we can go flat out here and not worry about anything. And then if anything happens, if there’s some injuries, then we can use the World Cup to recover.
Diogo Peral, Cape Town City assistant coach