Mngqithi dreams of conquering Africa
Mngqithi dreams of conquering Africa
Posted: 2009-10-22 21:37
Manqoba Mngqithi is dreaming of going beyond winning the MTN8 Cup final against Ajax Cape Town on Saturday evening.
When the Golden Arrows coach and his team return to Johannesburg for Saturday’s match, which will kick off at 20h15 at the Orlando Stadium, they will have the chance to make history as it is the first time that Arrows will be making an appearance in a cup final.
Mngqithi, who is looked on as an example of what a coach can achieve with the correct training even though he has limited resources, is not worried about the historical significance of the match.
“Being in this final is a step in a certain direction for us,” the young coach says.
“My ambition is to see my team win the Absa Premiership and the African Champions League, so getting to this final is one step towards us realising those dreams. We want to win the trophy as it will help us push ourselves towards winning more silverware.”
Mngqithi is also desperately trying to keep his players focused on the football side of the cup final and keeping to their normal game plan.
“We need to control our anxiety. Some of my guys are over anxious. To me it is a big challenge to keep them calm and there are also the psychological aspects of playing in a cup final that we need to look at. I think most importantly we do not want the huge prize purse to distract us from going out there and winning the match.”
“The fact that they (Ajax) have a new coach coming in soon and a number of other players filling the gaps of regular players are all dangerous elements for us,” divulged Mngqithi.
“With a new coach we do not know what strategy he will adopt for the game. We have watched recordings of their games, but that was when Muhsin (Ertugral) was the coach. All of these dynamics make this a very dicey situation.”
While Mngqithi takes the cautious road to the final, he will also be buoyed by the fact that his team are not suffering with the absences of any players through injury or suspensions.
: 2009-10-23 07:39
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