Zwane stays level-headed after victory
KAIZER Chiefs head coach Arthur Zwane has poured cold water on the club’s Nedbank Cup aspirations in spite of the club advancing to the last 16 of the competition.
Amakhosi battled past 10-man Maritzburg United on Friday night, needing extra-time to dispatch the Team of Choice and advance past the first round for the first time in three seasons.
The Naturena-based club are historically the most successful team in the Nedbank Cup, having made 19 finals and winning 13.
Although The Glamour Boys have not won this tournament in 10 years, Zwane has called for calm as he continues his rebuild of the Soweto giants.
“We take it one game at a time, I’ve always said this, we don’t want to put ourselves under pressure,” he expressed.
“Yes, Chiefs are a big team, so every game we play, we play for results, but at the end of the day we don’t have to lose ourselves because of the pressure that comes with being a part of Chiefs.”
Zwane also explained how the pressure of donning the black and gold of Amakhosi contributes to some of the irrational behaviour in the final third that has become the norm in his new-look side.
“You must’ve seen the chances we created (against Maritzburg). We needed a little bit of composure in the box but we made hasty decisions because of the pressure.
“We wanted to do things very, very quickly and unfortunately we ended up missing those opportunities that could’ve built up confidence within the squad,” Zwane explained.
The Nedbank Cup is Chiefs’ only chance at silverware this season and the atmosphere at a sold-out Harry Gwala Stadium looked to get the better of a few of Zwane’s men.
Zwane will hope, however, that the arrival of Congolese striker Saile Basomboli will see them convert more of the chances they create and perhaps shock many by winning a trophy in his maiden campaign.
The 22-year-old Basomboli scored his first goal for the club on full debut and appears to be forming a fierce combination with Ashley du Preez up front.
Amakhosi have over a week off before they have to tackle an outof-sorts Golden Arrows in a league contest at home.