AmaZulu coach Arthur “10111″ Zwane has set his sights on winning the Nedbank Cup and aims to emulate Usuthu’s class of 1992, with the prospect of playing continental football pushing them to give their all to clinch the Ke Yona competition.
AmaZulu’s 1992 Coca-Cola Cup triumph, where they stunned the then cup kings, Kaizer Chiefs, 3-1 at FNB Stadium, remains their only piece of silverware in the top flight to date.
Usuthu face Polokwane City in the Nedbank Cup round of 32 at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium tonight (7pm).
We also want to use the Nedbank Cup as a ticket to play continental football next season.
— Arthur Zwane
“We need to go all the way in the Nedbank Cup,” Zwane said.
“Like any other team that wants to compete against the best, we’d like to see ourselves in the final. Hopefully we can do what was done by the generation of 1992.
“It [that class] was a quality team... the Joseph Mlabas and Simon Magagulas of this world. Funny enough, I shared the room with Magagula at Pirates. It was a quality side AmaZulu had assembled in 1992, and we just want to emulate that team.”
Zwane views the Ke Yona Cup as a platform to play in the continent next season, as winning this competition guarantees a spot in the CAF Confederation Cup.
Zwane stressed the importance of continental football in players’ growth, reflecting on how former AmaZulu players Makhehleni Makhaula and Tapelo Xoki, who are now both at Orlando Pirates, benefited from the team’s 2021/22 season’s Champions League journey.
“We also want to use the Nedbank Cup as a ticket to play continental football next season because it’s important for our players to compete at that level.
“We’ve competed in the Champions League before [in the 2021/22 season under Benni McCarthy], so we want to return to that space, and we really fancy our chances, given the fact that our log position is good,” Zwane said.
“We’ve seen how players grow from playing continental football... look at what our former players such as Makhaula and Xoki went on to achieve after participating with this club in the Champions League.”
Sowetan
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