AmaZulu coach Benni McCarthy has insisted his side were beaten by the referee in their 1-0 defeat to Orlando Pirates on Sunday.
Usuthu lost to the Buccaneers at Orlando Stadium in the Nedbank Cup with Deon Hotto scoring the only goal of the match.
AmaZulu captain Tapelo Xoki missed a late penalty, but McCarthy insisted his side should’ve had two more, blaming the match official for his side’s defeat.
“I’m going to say out of courtesy, congratulations to Pirates. They took their chance that came to them and they scored,” he told SuperSport TV after the game.
“And for us, you saw what we were about and if there was in this life justice we would be standing here saying a different story because if you are a football lover and you see what’s happening to our game when it comes to decisions that costing your team, to get knocked out of the competition.
“I counted three penalties so because we get one, now you must be happy because it’s justice. Hey, come on, there is no justice.
“But anyway, it was a great game of football. Yes, we’re a small team but on the pitch we show a lot of heart and a lot of character and I can’t be more proud of this group of players that we have.
“Being away for Christmas break and doing what we did today, dictate, dominate the game from start to finish because I don’t care what they say. Yes, they take the all importance, they go through to the next round but for us so much to take from that, so much positives and we can only get better. So I’m super proud of my team and they couldn’t have done more.
“They were beaten by the man in the middle today, not by our opponents and I’m going to stick to that because that’s my feeling.
“Myself, my team and everybody else that loves football and knows football, knows we weren’t beaten by our opponents today.”
AmaZulu will now travel to Morocco to face Raja Casablanca in the CAF Champions League.
