THEY have NEVER played in a cup final!
And this is the closest they have ever come to playing in one in their history in the premier division.
But Maritzburg United’s miracle man, Fadlu Davids, first has to overcome Eric Tinkler, who has been in many cup finals in his short stint as a head coach in the Premier Soccer League.
So it comes as no surprise that Davids regards their MTN8 semifinal, first leg tie at Atteridgeville’s Lucas Moripe Stadium tomorrow as a “David versus Goliath” match.
He believes his Maritzburg charges have a mountain to climb against the ever-conquering SuperSport with the overachieving Tinkler added to the mix.
“SuperSport boast a good cup pedigree,” said Davids following their morale-boosting 2-0 win against Ajax Cape Town thanks to a brace by Evans Rusike, the goals scored either side of half-time.
“They are a fantastic side and deserve respect. They are cup winners while we, on the other hand, haven’t played in one cup final.
“So, we are going there as underdogs. It’s a battle of David versus Goliath.”
The return leg for this tie will be played at Harry Gwala Stadium in Pietermaritzburg on 9 September.
Davids’ main worry is injuries: “The aim is to field a full strength team for both legs. In order to do that we must make sure we return from Saturday’s match injury-free. That would be good for us in the return leg.
“Saturday’s game will be our third in seven days.” Maritzburg won both the others.
Farook Kadodia’s Team of Choice are in the MTN8 after pulling the teeth of African champions Mamelodi Sundowns. In their league campaign they’ve also beaten Platinum Stars in addition to Ajax.
SuperSport coach Tinkler hopes his players heed his instructions this time after failing to stick to the game plan in their 2-1 league victory over Kaizer Chiefs at FNB Stadium on Wednesday.
Said Tinkler: “When they lost Eric Mathoho we switched off. We didn’t continue applying the same principles as planned. It’s like players decided to change strategy and do something different.
“We took too long to switch play from one side to the other. We tried to play from the back and lost the ball, so those are areas of concern for me ahead of our match against Maritzburg.”
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