Maela, Makaringe make identical observation about AmaZulu’s play

Orlando Pirates captain Innocent Maela and midfielder Fortune Makaringe have made identical observations about their MTN8 final opponents AmaZulu.

Maela has warned his teammates to be wary of AmaZulu’s strength ahead of Saturday’s MTN8 final. Coincidentally, Makaringe has picked the same trait as Usuthu’s strong point.

According to the duo, Usuthu plays in transition. Therefore, they must be wary when they are in attack mode.

Usuthu are in high spirits heading into the encounter, while Pirates are trying to recover. The KZN outfit defeated Stellenbosch FC 1-0, and The Bucs suffered a 1-0 loss in the hands of Soweto rivals Kaizer Chiefs.

“From the previous match that we played against them, we noticed that they play in transition. They leave many players upfront so they can have the edge when they go in transition,” Maela told the media.

Makaringe added: “What I observed is that they are a team that is good in their transition play. They are a team that works well for one another. When I watched their game against Chiefs, I noticed they really fought….”

Maela added that they knew what to do to nullify their strength. “It’s still early in the week, as the coach said, but we will go deeper in our analysis. We know what we need to do so that we nullify their strengths which is playing in transition.

“We will work on it, but I cannot tell you how. We definitely know their strength. We will definitely work on it.”

The Pirates skipper further revealed that winning the MTN8, a trophy they won two years ago, won’t fully take off the pressure.

“We want to win trophies all the time, which we intend to do to lessen the pressure. Pressure is always there when you playing in a cup final, or in a league match to perform and win. A certain pressure will be there when you play for a big club; you always expected to win,” Maela added.

Heading into the showdown, both teams are hungry to lift a title. AmaZulu last won a major title 30 years ago. The Happy People last won a trophy two years back, lifting the MTN8.

Kickoff at iconic Moses Mabhida Stadium is at 6pm.