You won’t see AmaZulu fold when they meet against Mamelodi Sundowns at some point this season, vows Usuthu coach Pablo Franco Martin.
Golden Arrows, in their match against Sundowns at Lucas Moripe Stadium in the DStv Premiership match on Tuesday, appeared to have adopted a defeated mentality, with the Tshwane giants taking full advantage of that by scoring four goals, three of which in the first half.
Sundowns appeared to be playing in the park as their inter-passing was too strong for the Durban-based side, who have not defeated Sundowns in Pretoria since 2008.
But it was going to be an arm wrestle to get something from Sundowns, who have not lost a league match under coach Rulani Mokwena since he took over in October last year, equating 26 league matches without defeat overall since September last year.
While it looked easy on the eye for Sundowns, Martin has put his foot down that it will not be the case when Usuthu host them on 8 November at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
“We are fighting every day,” said Martin in short to iDiski Times.
“You watched us many days and you can see that we are fighters, we are giving it all.”
Usuthu, who have drawn two of their opening league matches and are yet to score a goal, will host struggling Richards Bay at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday (17:30).
As part of the adjustments, Martin was asked if he welcomes that his side are yet to find the back of the net while they are yet to loose a match either.
“You go home now and you open the fridge and you don’t have any food, how are you going to be comfortable with that?” Martin asked back.
“This is the same. I’m really happy with the defensive performance of the team. I can’t say that I’m content with the offensive side of the team because I think we are playing better and better football because we are creating more and more chances. But I cannot be happy with the last key pass or with the last shot because it’s true that we are not converting those chances.
“If you don’t convert, you cannot win games. On the other hand, if you are not conceding, you cannot lose – so we are in between.
“Of course we need to improve and we are trying to work on that. I hope this game (against Bay) we can score the goals.”
On Niger striker Victorien Adebayor, who is still stuck in his homeland due to the coup having been signed by Usuthu, Martin said “this is a question that is not for me [to answer], but for the people in the embassies, people at the club who are in charge in talking to them, trying to accelerate the process. I hope he can be here as soon as possible.”
