CAPE TOWN – “It is AmaZulu vs Cape Town City.”
That’s, at least, how City coach Eric Tinkler views Sunday’s mouth-watering MTN8 quarter-final.
Tinkler, who is starting his second spell at The Citizens, was quick to dispel any notion that it might be the “Eric vs Benni” show with AmaZulu, of course, being led by former City coach Benni McCarthy.
The two Bafana Bafana internationals form part of just three permanent coaches Cape Town City have employed since the club’s formation in 2016, with Dutchman Jan Olde Riekerink the odd man out.
Both Tinkler and McCarthy are etched into City’s folklore after leading the club to Telkom KO (2016) and MTN8 (2018) glory respectively. Both coaches are also greatly respected by their players due to their stellar playing careers.
Tinkler spent long periods overseas playing in Portugal for both Vitoria and Caldas, while he also turned out for Barnsley in England and Cagliari in Italy. McCarthy, meanwhile, featured in the Dutch Eredivisie for Ajax FC, FC Porto in Portugal, Celta Vigo in Spain’s La Liga and in the English Premiership for Blackburn Rovers and West Ham.
Coupled with this history is the fact that AmaZulu crushed City 5-1 the last time these two teams met with the result spelling the beginning of the end of Riekerink’s tenure in the Mother City.
“I think AmaZulu have done an absolutely brilliant job last season considering their last two seasons where they just survived relegation. Benni has obviously done a fantastic job, coming in when he did, and managing to finish second in the league. It is always going to be difficult to replicate what they achieved last season.
“But I am not so much concerned about AmaZulu but more about us improving ourselves. I believe we have put a good squad together. If I look closely, I think it’s an even stronger squad than what we had in 2016.
“If it (the 5-1 defeat) is sitting in the back of the minds, then it's there for the right reasons. It should be that the boys want to set the record straight, and that should be the objective.”
Tinkler’s Portuguse connections have been beneficial to City this week as the club have managed to avert a potential goalkeeping crisis after former Bafana Bafana No 1 Darren Keet was ruled out with a long-term thigh injury.
City signed Keet during the off-season from Cape Umoya to off-set the loss of popular Dutchman Peter Leeuwenburgh, but they have now been forced to move swiftly to secure the services of Angolan international Hugo Marques in addition to Bongani Mpandle.
Thirty-five-year-old Marques is a seasoned international keeper that has also represented Portugal’s youth teams. He joins The Citizens after a lengthy spell with Spanish La Liga side S.C. Farense.
“Unfortunately Darren Keet will be out about six months and we believed we needed to get someone in who had lots of experience,” Tinkler said, who is waiting on Hugo's work permit to be approved.
“Hugo comes in with bags of experience, he’s played in Europe, I think he’s played over 1000 games. He is a good leader. Obviously, the fact that he speaks English is beneficial for us, because he is a good communicator.”
City will also be without SA under-23 international Fagrie Lakay for Sunday’s trip to KwaZulu-Natal. Lakay, who also missed the recent Tokyo Olympics adventure with AmaGlug-Glug, is suffering from a sports hernia injury and faces a possible two-month spell on the sidelines.
IOL Sport