Following their victory against Cape Town City in the DStv Premiership, AmaZulu will now turn their attention to the Nedbank Cup quarter-final where they will take on Orlando Pirates on Saturday evening at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
Kick-off is at 18h00 CAT.
Back in March, Usuthu made a statement by beating Sekhukhune United 2-0 in the Round of 16 to make it to the next round. The feat was special as it was the first time in 11 years that the team progressed to that stage of the cup of competition.
Winning in the league recently could be a good boost for coach Pablo Franco Martin’s players as they face Pirates who are coming off the back of an emphatic 7-1 against Golden Arrows.
“Our preparations as always are going good. We are trying to take over the team physically and mentally because we are coming from tough weeks,” said Franco Martin ahead of the all-important fixture.
“I think we are going to be more than prepared to face the best team in the last two years in knockout competitions, the defending champions.”
However, with that being said, Franco Martin also believes that Usuthu has also done well for themselves in knockout competitions and the intention is to keep “making history”.
Speaking about the win over Cape Town City, the tactician said that the mood in the camp is better now that they’ve picked up a positive result and they are trying to remain balanced.
AmaZulu v Orlando Pirates
Head-to-Head (since 1985)
PREVIOUS CUP MEETINGS
Season Cup Result Scorers
1990 Bob Save SF AmaZulu 1-0 Pirates Nzimande
1992 Bob Save 1st round Pirates 2-1 AmaZulu Nogueira, Mahlangu; Nzimande
1994 BP Top 8 3rd place AmaZulu 1-2 Pirates Farrer; Maponyane, Mkhalele
2018/19 Telkom KO QF AmaZulu 1-3* Pirates Ntuli; Lorch (2), Mlambo
2021/22 Nedbank Cup L32 Pirates 1-0 AmaZulu Hotto
2022/23 MTN8 Final Pirates 1-0 AmaZulu Saleng
*After extra time
