Kaizer Chiefs new coach Vladimir Vermezovic will not be putting his players under any pressure when they meet Manchester City in the Vodacom Challenge final at Loftus on Saturday.
Amakhosi won the right to play City in the final, edging out Orlando Pirates 4-3 on a sudden death penalty shootout after the teams were level 1-1 at full time in their Challenge decider played at a wet and cold Port Elizabeth on Thursday night.
City are set to unleash their new signings and field a full strength side in the final.
Said Vermezovic: ”I am not concerned about who City will field against us. It will be good if they play all their new stars as none of them have played together before and that gives us a chance. Anything is possible in soccer. But to me this is show football. It is pre-season training for both teams and reaching the final was a big bonus for us. But, win or lose, I want my players to go out and enjoy the experience.”
City manager Mark Hughes has spent a fortune of new owners the Abu Dhabi Investment Group’s plentiful supply of cash when he bought England midfield ace Gareth Barry plus three world class strikers in Arsenal’s Emmanuel Adebayor, Argentine international Carlos Tevez from neighbours Manchester United and Paraguay’s Roque Santa Cruz.
They join Brazil international superstar Robinho, who arrived in Johannesburg on Thursday but did not travel to Port Elizabeth although he is set to play in the final.
Robinho helped Brazil retain the Confederations Cup when they defeated the United States 3-2 in the final played at Ellis Park last month.
Hughes said after he had beaten Chiefs 1-0 in Durban that he would be looking to field his new signings if they passed a fitness test. The only big name that played against Chiefs on Tuesday was Barry.
Both Tevez and Santa Cruz are on the sidelines. Santa Cruz is recovering from an operation while Tevez has a heel injury.
Vermezovic said that it is tough playing three hard games in six days but was not complaining. ”We are prepared for this and wanted to play City again in the final. I was satisfied by our performance against Pirates. It was really close and playing City is another test but one must remember this is part of my pre-season training and is a sort of holiday soccer for the fans. The important thing for me is to be ready when the season begins for us on August 8.”
But the Serbian born coach stressed Chiefs would give it a full go against big spending City but he said that his star Bafana Bafana winger Siphiwe Tshabalala would not be part of the final.
Tshabalala is still resting after helping Bafana finish fourth in last month’s Confederations Cup.
Said the Chiefs coach: ”There is no ways I will play Tshabalala in the final. He is not ready and needs the break. I have a rotation policy that I will continue to use. But it depends on which players I feel are fit and not injured after this tough game against Pirates as to who starts in the final.”
Chiefs captain Tinashe Nengomasha, who is standing in for injured Jimmy Tau, said he had a short message for his players. He explained: ”What we must do is go out at Loftus on Saturday and make sure we enjoy ourselves. This is going to be another big experience for us.”
Pirates defeated City 2-0 in Polokwane last Saturday but Chiefs can expect a much tougher 90 minutes. However, Bucs coach Ruud Krol is backing Chiefs to beat City.
”I reckon that Chiefs stand good chance of beating them. I hope they do and make South African soccer fans proud,” said Krol. — Sapa