Tembo desperate to end the City hoodoo

A new episode in the rivalry between SuperSport United and Cape Town City is set to unfold tomorrow night at the Cape Town Stadium, with the two sides going head-to-head in the Nedbank Cup last-32.

The duo have already locked horns this season, most notably in the MTN8 final where the Mother City side outsmarted the capital city campaigners in a penalty shootout. Tomorrow’s confrontation will be the fourth of the season.

“City have been our hoodoo team, they have been dominating us and they took six points from us in the league and the MTN8 title,” said United coach Kaitano Tembo.

“We are well aware of what to expect there and at the same time we are getting our confidence back. We are going to fight hard and try to give them a run for their money. It is not going to be easy for them,” he added.

In his pre-match press conference, Tembo made no mention of resting his key players, as competitions such as these sometimes see a few fringe players getting a run-out.

“They have to work hard for it and they have to appreciate it – that’s my philosophy. Young players don’t play because they are young, they play because they deserve it and they have the hunger and desire to succeed. If you look at Aubrey Modiba and Teboho Mokoena, they play because they have the hunger, so the others have to follow through as well,” Tembo said.

Tembo is banking on striker Bradley Grobler to turn their fortunes around in front of goal as the prolific striker made his return from injury this month and is set to play his third game against Benni McCarthy’s side.

“Bradley makes a lot of difference in our attack. We’ve built our attack around him because he is one player who holds the ball up very well for the rest of the attacking players to join in and he creates space around the defence as well. He is very dangerous inside the box.”

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