AmaZulu loss in Nedbank Cup bitter pill to swallow for Folz

Pain was written all over Romain Folz’ face as he tried to process the result after his AmaZulu FC were felled by minnows in the Nedbank Cup. 

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AmaZulu tried their best but they could not get past Dondol Stars who beat them 5-4 in the penalty shootout after the game had ended in a 1-1 draw. 

Folz rued missed chances and said they gifted Dondol the ticket to the quarterfinals with the way they let them off the hook.

“Congratulations to the opponent for the simple reason that they scored all their penalties and we missed one,” said Folz after the game at FNB Stadium this week. 

“But they deserved to win even during the game. I believe we put ourselves in trouble by missing so many chances. 

“We hit the post twice, I think. We got to within four or five yards of their goal but we could not score,” added the Usuthu mentor. 

Folz said their porous finishing up front is what opened the door for Dondol to sneak past. 

Usuthu took the lead through Pule Ekstein early in the second half but went on to miss more chances. 

‘We gifted Dondol’

But their lead was quickly cut when Revaldo Fox was given the freedom of the AmaZulu box. 

He first tried a header from a corner but it was blocked by Jody February. But the ball fell kindly for Fox who then sliced it past February. 

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“When you are that poor with finishing, you are opening the door for anything to happen. 

“We opened the door for extra time, we opened the door for penalties when we got there and you are not clinical, the opponent might be. 

“And that is what happened. In terms of creating sequences going forward, we were fine but were poor with our finishing. Extremely poor 

“So, as much as I congratulate the opponent, we gave it to them. There is no excuse whatsoever. The blame is on us,” explained Folz. 

The result is said to have not gone down well with the Usuthu management who have vowed to do something about it. 

Folz was recently handed a contract extension with a further three years added to his initial one year deal.