Kaitano Tembo, the coach of SuperSport United pleased with his side's 1-1 result against Orlando Pirates: Philip Maeta/Gallo Images.
SuperSport United coach Kaitano Tembo is careful not to count his eggs before they hatch, as his Matsatsantsa A Pitori side are in high spirits after advancing to the quarterfinals of the Telkom Knockout after eliminating last season’s champions Baroka FC this past weekend.
The capital city-based outfit will face Golden Arrows in the last eight and having won the MTN8 title earlier this month, Tembo says the possibility of winning two cups before the end of the year is not something that his players and technical staff are necessarily entertaining at this point.
“We are taking it one game at a time. We are in the next round and we just have to wait and at the same tie our next focus is our league game against Black Leopards on Friday and we have to concentrate on that. We don’t have to get ahead of ourselves,” said Tembo.
“We must also understand that we are coming from a Fifa break after we won the MTN8 and players went to the national teams and it was a little bit difficult for us, we were not sharp like we normally are and we will go to our next game sharper,” he added.
Meanwhile, Tembo has heaped a lot of praise on striker Thamsanqa Gabuza.
Gabuza was given compassionate leave after he revealed that he had missed his son’s funeral to star in the MTN8 final where he was named Man-of-the-Match. The former Orlando Pirates striker scored the winning goal in a penalty shootout where SuperSport eliminated Bakgaga.
“Gabuza is a very strong person both physically and mentally. He dealt with it in his own way and we gave him a little bit of time to be with his family and he came back with a clear mind. He is a player who gives you an honest performance, he does not cheat.”
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