‘I didn’t like the Chiefs game, play with courage against Bucs’: Kaze tells players

Sekhukhune United coach Cedric Kaze wants his team to play without fear when they face perennial MTN8 kings, Orlando Pirates, in the first leg of the tournament’s semifinals at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday (3pm).

Kaze, who joined Sekhukhune at the start of the season off the back of helping Kaizer Chiefs finish third as co-coach with Khalil Ben Youssef, didn’t hide that he was not impressed with United’s performance against his former side and told his troops to do things differently against Pirates.

“[Against Chiefs, where they lost 2-0 in the league at FNB Stadium last week] I didn’t recognise my team that normally has the personality to take on the challenges,” Kaze told a presser at MTN8 headquarters in Fairland, Joburg, on Thursday.

“I didn’t like that game [against Chiefs], and I made sure that the players are very aware of that because I thought we played without courage. We played with a handbrake on.

“We know how big the mountain we need to climb is.” — Sekhukhune United coach Cedric Kaze

“The response was very good against Polokwane [in their next game, where they won 2-0 at Seshego Stadium] and I hope that on Saturday [against Pirates] we will have a positive attitude and a positive mindset to take the game to the opponent and to know the moments.”

Sekhukhune and Pirates will face off three times in the space of seven days, starting on Saturday. The second fixture featuring these two teams is in the league at Orlando Amstel Arena on Tuesday, while the third game is the MTN8 semifinal second leg at the same venue on August 29.

“It’s a very big week for us, playing the same team three times. We know how big the mountain we need to climb is because we are playing against the defending champions, who’ve won this cup four times in a row. But we want to compete and we need to be at our best,” Kaze stressed.

The game was initially penciled for the New Peter Mokaba Stadium but because of pitch rehabilitation it was moved to the compact Old Peter Mokaba Stadium. Kaze isn’t deterred by playing the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium, where the pitch is smaller.

“My team has to be able to perform in any situation and on any field,” Kaze noted. “I just have to deal with what’s in front of me. Seshego Stadium wasn’t the best stadium we could’ve dreamt of playing at, but we managed to get points in the two games we played there. So, we just have to embrace the challenge.”