Durban — AmaZulu qualified for their first Cup final in 12 years after they knocked out Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs on away goals at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Sunday.
Usuthu knew a defensively sound performance would lead to them to not conceding against a hot and cold Chiefs.
The KwaZulu-Natal based club tussled and wrestled with Chiefs throughout the 90 minutes and did enough to grab a clean sheet and qualify for the club's first ever MTN8 final.
Newly-appointed AmaZulu coach Romain Folz, with a certain bounce to his step, revelled in what was an iconic day for the club and issued their MTN8 final opponents a challenge.
"We played Pirates recently at their field and I don't think we're anything below their level," Folz said.
“In the last game we played against them, yes we couldn't repeat our first half performance in the second half, but I encourage anyone to go watch our first half against them, we should've been 3-0 up at halftime and no one can argue that.
“It's going to be a very tough game obviously just like Chiefs was a difficult team today but at the end of the day, we're not scared of Pirates or anyone that you put in front of us, just put them in front us and let's see who wins at the end of the day.”
The 32-year-old’s decision to rest his captain Makhehleni Makhaula in AmaZulu’s last match against Chippa United seemed to be interesting as they were worried about Sunday’s encounter due to an accumulation of bookings.
However Folz's gut feeling proved to be one of a genius, and Makhaula alongside man-of-the-match George Maluleka ransacked the Chiefs midfield and provided the perfect platform for AmaZulu to build on in both defence and attack.
"Yes, my decision to rest him definitely worked because if I had played him in the last game, I'm pretty sure he would've gotten a yellow card and therefore missed this match," Folz said.
"He played a really good game today especially with regards to his intensity off the ball, he was very much aggressive and very intense in knowing when and how to chase the ball so I'm really happy about the decision we took as the staff to rest him."
IOL Sport