AmaTuks head coach Tlisane Motaung says it was a tough battle against Venda Football Academy but he is delighted to progress to the Nedbank Cup quarter-finals.
AmaTuks won in a penalty shootout after a 3-3 draw in 120 minutes of football.
Motaung said it was always going to be difficult at Thohoyandou Stadium, and he was pleased to get through a match that swung to and fro.
“Look, we knew that it was going to be difficult match, coming here to play against VFA, particular here at Thohoyandou Stadium, because not a lot of teams come here and really get a win,” Motaung said.
“You can see even the score says that, 3-3 in 120 minutes, and that tells you that really two teams were going at each other, strongly so.
“And we score first, we thinking that we are comfortable, they come, they equalize. Then we go second half, they score. And then we have to chase the game, then that was too much ask.
“Then we go extra time, of course, and then we score, we thinking now, no, we got it in the bag. We freshened up the squad, we bring fresh legs, we want to close the shop.
“Then the next thing they get a penalty, they equalise and now you have to think about the penalty shootout, which a lot of people call it the lottery.
“But I was quite comfortable in terms of how we prepared, even on penalties throughout the week. In particular, when you have a big factor like our goalkeeper, Thaka (Thakasani Mbjanwa), I knew that if they get five, he will save one or two, that one I’m quite confident, because he’s got size, and he’s really good with reflexes and all that.
“And we led, where they missed two, then we came in and missed one in the shootout, and we started panicking, we had to really make sure that we scored the last one to win the penalties.”
