AmaZulu ‘playing for jobs, families’
IT’S not all doom and gloom in the eyes of AmaZulu’s new skipper, Siyabonga Mbatha, who wants Usuthu to grow and flourish under his leadership.
No matter how bleak things may seem for the Durban-based Premiership club, Mbatha still sees light at the end of the tunnel. The 29-year-old netminder is optimistic of a happy ending in what has been a woeful show in their league campaign. AmaZulu are in deep trouble of being relegated.
Tonight, they play their city rivals, Lamontville Golden Arrows, at Jonsson Kings Park Stadium in Durban at 8.15pm. As is the norm with derbies, it’s a tricky game in which maximum points won’t come easy but Mbatha believes at some point his team will hit the right notes. For him, it is no longer just a game but the survival of the club and bread and butter for the players.
“Whether I am captain or not, it is important that we don’t get relegated as our jobs and our families are at stake. It is important to save the team. Now that we are out of the Nedbank Cup, our focus is firmly on the league. We need to make sure that the team doesn’t go down. The primary objective is to help the team avoid the big drop and then we can come back next season fresh, plan ahead and see what we can achieve as a team,” Mbatha explained.
He recently took over the captaincy role from Thapelo Xoki.
“We have to give 100 per cent effort at all times. It’s our jobs that are on the line in as much as we are playing football. We need to do it for our families, we need to do it for the team that pays us salaries every month. If we get relegated, it means our families will struggle and we will also struggle,” he added.
After beating Polokwane City in their previous league encounter at home, today’s game against Arrows will present Usuthu with a prime opportunity to forge a run that can lift them out of the relegation dogfight. Mbatha knows all about the trials and tribulations of campaigning in the GladAfrica Championship having played for Thanda Royal Zulu in the same division three seasons ago. That’s why he doesn’t want to go back there.
“I don’t think any player would want to go back to GladAfrica Championship. It is difficult to play there and, number two, obviously salaries get cut because of sponsorships.
“Teams lose sponsorships and they cannot maintain the same standard. If a club goes down, a lot gets affected. That’s why we are also playing for our lives. Luckily the fixture favours us. We are playing all these teams that are around us. We set a target prior to the game against Polokwane City and we won 1-0. Now, we are faced with Arrows. We need to get results, we are playing at home.”
Usuthu are hovering near the bottom of the table after 21 league matches with 20 points. They are second from the foot of the table. They have failed to garner enough points to move away from relegation. A victory today against Arrows will elevate them to a better position in the log standings. On the other hand, Arrows have not been an easy side to play against for AmaZulu and this will only increase the intensity of the encounter.