It’s Pitso’s stars versus Roger’s chickens
| The two coaches have their say ahead of the big one on Saturday
They are fearless, aggressive, brave and they believe they can beat anybody on their day Winning a trophy in my first full season here would be fantastic. As coach, [I] don’t want to make up the numbers
PITSO Mosimane has been scheming and plotting ahead of Mamelodi Sundowns’ Nedbank Cup final against Ajax Cape Town in Port Elizabeth on Saturday.
Ever the tactician, the Downs coach says he has been sifting through video footage to see where his men will break the Ajax resilience, but has only discovered that the UrbanWarriors are unpredictable.
“Their results in the league have also been inconsistent, which makes it hard to pick up anything except that they are fearless, aggressive, brave and that they believe they can beat anybody on their day,” said Mosimane.
“They beat Bloemfontein Celtic, Wits and SuperSport United to reach the final, so they deserve to be there.”
When the venue for the final was announced late last month, the Sundowns mentor made it clear he was unhappy about having to travel to Port Elizabeth. But during the interview, he found something to look forward to heading to the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
“Ajax aren’t good travellers,” the coach said, giving the impression he has changed his tune after claiming the coastal conditions would favour Roger de Sa and his charges.
“In Cape Town they have been unbelievable, but on the road they are not so good. We have been good on the road. If we start well in the game, I think we will win. But if they are on top of us, they will have the advantage.
“We are also counting on their young guys to freeze on the big stage. That is the thing with using a young team — they are fearless and brave on their day. But when they can’t cope, they freeze.”
Mosimane admits to feeling the pressure to win what is now the Brazilians’ only chance to avoid a barren season after Kaizer Chiefs claimed the Absa Premiership title.
“In Ajax we’re playing a team that has had a successful season and, going into the final, they have nothing to lose but everything to gain,” he said.
Sundowns should be nervous facing a brazen team — they haven’t gone all the way in a domestic cup competition since winning the inaugural Nedbank Cup title in 2008.
It has been that long for Ajax too — they beat Orlando Pirates 2-1 to win the Telkom Knockout that year — but they always used their young and inexpe- rienced squad as an excuse to avoid deeper scrutiny.
So how can Downs explain their lack of silverware?
“Yes, we should be a team winning at least one cup every year, like in the days of old. We’ve been through some lean spells in the past, but we made great strides by winning the championship last year,” Mosimane argued.
“Things could be better, but look at the team overall. We might not have won the league this time, but we are now in the [Caf] Champions League. Of course we would have preferred the league, but we are not unhappy about being in a cup final that gives the winners a chance to compete in the Confederations Cup.
“There is a lot of confidence that things are improving at Sundowns. Maybe next year we will aim at winning two cups.”
Mosimane hints that he could persist with a cautious approach against Ajax to make sure the trophy heads to Chloorkop when the final whistle sounds.
“We’d love to give everyone a super final and play the way we did when we beat Platinum Stars 3-1 and Black Aces 2-0 on our way to the final,” the coach said. “That was beautiful football. But you can’t play like that all the time. We must grind out the result because if we lose playing expansive football, three years down the line no one will remember that we enjoyed ball possession. They will remember the winners.”
sports@timesmedia.co.za ROGER de Sa had his plans clearly set out when he retired as a player but coaching, he has revealed, was not one of them.
De Sa owned a restaurant in the Johannesburg suburb of Ilovo and worked for Coca-Cola in marketing and advertising before he finally realised that coaching was meant for him. And if there was any proof that shouting instructions was his calling, it was provided in his first season as Wits University coach in the 2001-02 season when he won the Premier Soccer League’s (PSL) coach of the season award. He has gone on to become one of South Africa’s top coaches.
“I had a Nino’s restaurant. I sold it because coaching was taking up all my time,” he said.
“Fortunately I was always given some form of leadership position when I was a player and somehow at Wits, I was pushed into coaching. The club asked me if I would help out and I was pretty good at it.”
In six days’ time, De Sa’s Ajax Cape Town face a club he played for, Mamelodi Sundowns, in the Nedbank Cup final at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
It is his seventh knockout competition final as a coach, but he has only one title to his name — the 2010 Nedbank Cup as Bidvest Wits coach.
On that day, Wits cruised to a 3-0 victory against AmaZulu at FNB Stadium. He would love for his youngsters to outshine the stars of Sundowns to clinch his second title and Ajax’s first. The Urban Warriors last won the Telkom Knockout in 2008, which coincidentally is also the last time the Brazilians won a knockout trophy.
“Out of those seven finals, the Telkom Knockout when I was at Wits [in 2011] is the one where we were outplayed. [Orlando] Pirates played us off the park. We should have won the other finals because we played well,” the 50-year-old said. “As long as I keep going, a title will come. Winning a trophy in my first full season here would be fantastic. As coach, we don’t want to just make up the numbers.”
De Sa has done fairly well this season, keeping Ajax in the top eight and reaching this final. And it was no easy road for them, having had to overcome PSL rivals Bloemfontein Celtic, Wits and SuperSport United.
“For a club that has been fighting relegation for three years and getting knocked out of every competition in the first round, I am happy with what we have achieved this season,” he said. “We are also going into Africa [Caf Confederation Cup next year], which will be a costly exercise but should be a good experience for our youngsters.”
Ajax are the underdogs but can draw inspiration from the class of 2007, which beat Sundowns in the then Absa (now Nedbank) Cup final.
On that memorable night in Durban, Clifford Ngobeni, Bryce Moon and Franklin Cale were key in Ajax’s victory over a Sundowns side which had arguably the best stars in Godfrey Sapula and Surprise Moriri.
To beat Sundowns on Saturday, De Sa said his youngsters will have to be strong mentally.
“Sundowns are favourites. They’ve got so many options. Pitso [Mosimane] will have a headache picking a team. Yes, we know that Teko [Modise] is a key player and takes set-pieces. Yes, we know [defender Alje] Schut is a key player. But we should worry about every player,” he said. “Sundowns don’t have weaknesses. I actually thought they would win the league this season.”
He added: “[But] We have our superstars. Hopefully our youngsters will be relaxed. They should play like it’s secondbreak football at school. Our youngsters are hungry and they believe in themselves. It will be a big confidence booster for next season if we win the title.”
De Sa knows he can rely on Tashreeq Morris, Keagan Dolly, Bantu Mzwakali and Riyaad Norodien to find a chink in the Sundowns armour.
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