Durban — AmaZulu coach Romain Folz has waved away the fear of the unknown as his team prepare to take on ABC Motsepe League side Tornado FC in the last-32 of the Nedbank Cup.
Usuthu are one of several Premiership teams that will come up against a lower-league side, an occurrence that has provided many an upset over the years.
The 32-year-old coach revealed on Tuesday that AmaZulu’s preparation and research on their largely unknown opponents makes them confident that there is little that could come as a surprise in the match.
“We’ve planned for them as we would for any other game regardless of the fact that we haven’t played them or they’re not in our league,” Folz said.
“We had our scouts who travelled a couple of weeks ago to scout them in person, all the way over there so we’ve prepared the game to our maximum ability and work ethic, so it doesn’t change anything (playing lower-league opposition).”
“For me, it doesn’t change anything. We are professionals and we face every opposition with the same level of professionalism. It’s an important competition for us, therefore we prepare for it with the same dedication.”
The likes of Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates have been victims of defeats to lower-league teams in the past, a result AmaZulu will hope to avoid as they seek to match and better their Cup run earlier this season.
The KwaZulu-Natal-based team suffered a heartbreaking loss to Pirates in the MTN8 final in October in Durban, and are looking to rewrite those wrongs with another impressive Cup run.
Folz expressed that he and his players still had a bitter taste in their mouths about their performance and the result in the MTN8 final, but could use that experience to draw confidence heading into the Nedbank Cup.
“We still have that feeling that we could’ve and should’ve done better in the MTN8. So, the only thing that we can draw from that final is that we have the capacity to get to that stage and we want to get as far as we can in this Cup. I believe it’s a step-by-step process,” Folz said.
AmaZulu will welcome the Northern Cape-based side to the King Zwelithini Stadium on Sunday (3pm kick-off).
IOL Sport