Richard Henyekane and Manqoba Mngqithi. Backpagepix
Arrows eye first cup
Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:00
Golden Arrows will be looking to win their first silverware since joining the Absa Premiership when they take on Ajax Cape Town in the MTN8 Final on Saturday night (kick-off 8.15pm).
"Being in this final is a step in a certain direction for us," said Arrows coach Manqoba Mngqithi.
He added: "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."
The Arrows coach 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," explained Mngqithi.
While Mngqithi's preparations have gone on without any technical glitches, Ajax have had to contend with the departure of their coach, Muhsin Ertugral, and have appointed Dutch coach Foppe de Haan as their new coach.
According to the Arrows coach, all of these perceived disturbances to Ajax's preparations could in fact favour the Capetonians.
"The fact that they 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 was the coach. All of these dynamics make this a very dicey situation," concluded Mngqithi.
Backpagepix