Durban — Makhehleni Makhaula and AmaZulu will travel to the FNB Stadium on Sunday to take on Kaizer Chiefs in an MTN8 semi-final first-leg encounter scheduled to kick off at 3pm.
Usuthu head into this encounter on the back of a poor run of form, having failed to claim victory in their last four league matches — head coach Brandon Truter's worst run since his arrival at the Durban-based club.
The club's captain, Makhaula, recognising AmaZulu are seen as the “underdogs”, has warned Chiefs not to expect his charges to lie down and roll over as they travel away for the first of their two-legged clash.
"I think it's going to be an extremely tactical game. Both teams won't want to concede early, and they'll probably come at us because they're playing at home. But we're also not going to sit back for them to score so we can recover," he emphasised.
"For us, it's important that we get goals there. It's very important that we win the game, and we need to win it with a high score so that if they come in the second leg it's going to be difficult for them to come back."
Usuthu, who are in their first MTN8 semi-final since 2009, have not won a trophy in 30 years now, their last triumph coming in the 1992 Coca-Cola Cup.
Having lured some of the most talented and experienced players in the country down to Kwazulu-Natal, Usuthu have displayed a great deal of poise and dominance in recent times, with the likes of Gabadinho Mhango, George Maluleka and Riaan Hanamub already forming part of a well-balanced side.
The crop of players, supported by ambitious owners, have made their intentions of ending that drought known, and Makhaula believes this year's MTN8 campaign could be the one where they pull it off.
"It's very important for us as players and the club, and making history for AmaZulu would be very good," he said
"We have very experienced guys who have played this tournament before, so we expect this tournament to be a great one for us. But we also expect it to be difficult as well, so it's very important that we take it one game at a time."
Although Usuthu have closed the gap in quality in recent years between the two sides, Chiefs still harbour a greater advantage historically in cup competitions.
The teams have only met six times in cup games in close to four decades, with Chiefs having won five of those to go with a single victory for AmaZulu.
AmaZulu will look to leave it all on the field over two legs as the prospect of playing the final on their own pitch at Moses Mabhida Stadium drives up excitement.
IOL Sport