A man responsible for one of the biggest upsets in Nedbank Cup history has given Dondol Stars insight into how Maluti FET College dismantled and shocked Orlando Pirates back in 2013.
Hardly given a chance to beat a Pirates side which had the likes of Collins Mbesuma, Oupa Manyisa and the late Senzo Meyiwa in goal, Maluti administered a beating of note to the Buccaneers, cruising to a 4-1 victory which is still spoken about to this day.
READ: Rulani: Let's Allow Them To Dream
Now, 10 years after that emphatic victory, Pirates face Dondol Stars, a side brimming with confidence after knocking out AmaZulu and SuperSport United in the previous two rounds of this season's edition.
After these two victories over topflight clubs, ABC Motsepe League side Dondol have got reason to believe that. But they cannot get ahead of themselves, as advised by Morena Ramoreboli, who was on the Maluti bench as head coach when the minnows taught the Buccaneers a footballing lesson of note back in 2013.
"Let's be honest, when you are playing with big teams like Pirates, Sundowns, Chiefs and maybe all the Premier League teams, you must understand that it's not easy for you to match them pound for pound. The best thing you need to do is defend well and defend in numbers," Ramoreboli, who is now in charge of Jwaneng Galaxy in Botswana, said to the Siya crew.
"Secondly, deny them space in your half because technically they are far better than your players. In terms of speed, you will get first to the ball, but what's important is what you are going to do with the ball. It's important to be organised defensively and understand that you are not playing an ABC Motsepe League team. You are playing people from a higher league and give them the respect that they deserve, but make sure that you have a tactical plan for the match.
READ: FRIDAY DEBATE: Nedbank Cup Upset On The Cards For Bucs?
"The key factor is the transition game, where you say what are you going to do after winning the ball and what you are going to do after losing the ball. If you go check our goals, the first goal was a counter. We won the ball in our half and quickly played the ball to Lucky Mokoena and he scored the first goal. The second goal was a set piece on the right. We played the the defensive line and the goalkeeper and we scored. Our third goal in the second half was a transition. We won the ball and quickly played it forward and we scored our third goal. They scored from a transition after we missed a penalty, but then we scored our fourth goal from a set piece. Transition set pieces are important because you are playing against people who can take advantage of all these aspects and they end up scoring against you."
You must be SIGNED IN to read and post comments.
