Dondol Stars defender issues warning to PSL clubs

Dondol Stars defender issues warning to PSL clubs

Dondol Stars defender Bafana Makhanya believes their status as a lower division side could still be their biggest weapon in the Nedbank Cup.

The ABC Motsepe League outfit grabbed headlines with a shock win over the much more established topflight SuperSport United and knocked them out of the earlier phase of the competition with a 2-1 scoreline.

Dondol, the Gauteng stream log leaders, will now face AmaZulu in the round of 16 and Makhanya remains confident. 

"I know people undermine us. We prove [with] SuperSport the point that we can play. So we will see against AmaZulu [FC], we have to beat them too.

But it's not a 'must', our main focus, to be honest, is on the league than cups", said Makhanya. 

Beating SuperSport is the club’s biggest highlight to date, and Makhanya insists they were the more determined side on the night. 

"It's 11 versus 11. It doesn't mean when you play ABC Motsepe you can beat a team from PSL, we can. It shows that we needed it more, cos we saw, when we saw the team list [and wondered] 'how can he play [Thamsanqa] Gabuza at the back?'.

But we don't know the reason. So we played, we wanted it more", he claimed. 

 

Contrary to suggestions that co-coach Vincent Rammoni channelled his inner Pep Guardiola in the dressing room to mastermind the victory over SuperSport, Makhanya reveals all he did at half-time was give a speech. 

"We were very nervous. We have under-23, and they are still young. 20, 19, so they were nervous. They even said 'I'm so nervous, I can't play here'. So [we agreed] 'let's protect them'. We tried to play our football first half, but couldn't.

They [coaches] didn't coach us, they didn't do that tactics thing, they just gave us a speech", Makhanya said. 

Another game being televised live means more exposure for the relatively unknown Dondol Stars players, which Makhanya says they relish, as it could lead to lucrative opportunities elsewhere.