Tornado have a chance to make history at home when they host Kaizer Chiefs in a Nedbank Cup last 32 teams clash at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium on Sunday.
Should the provincial ABC Motsepe league reigning champions pull an upset win against Amakhosi, they will automatically qualify to go to the next round – the last 16 – something they have not achieved in the past.
Tornado assistant coach Vuyisani Mangaliso said they were well aware of what was at stake and would not hold back against the Soweto giants at the NU2 venue.
“We’ve been preparing these boys for the game against Chiefs and the [ABC Motsepe League promotional] playoffs and we know they are ready,” said Mangaliso.
“There’s nothing new, it’s just that we are playing against Kaizer Chiefs and everyone expects us to change the way we do things.
“But nothing is going to change because we are happy with our boys’ performance at training and we hope that on Sunday everything that we were doing will be visible.
“The players have to rise to the occasion and most of our players have been in the situation of playing at the highest level.”
Mangaliso said while their squad had suffered a few knocks, these were not worth stressing about.
The only player with a major injury is Thabiso “Forlan” Mikaele, who is out nursing a broken arm.
“Sadly, the major knock we have in the squad is Forlan. He would have done more for the team if he was available but still we have a capable squad that can do the job on Sunday,” said Mangaliso.
Meanwhile, the club’s goal keeper-coach, Shaun Mamatela, agreed with Mangaliso when he said playing against the Glamour Boys was motivation on it’s own for their players.
“When you play in a team like Kaizer Chiefs, you cannot leave anything to chance.
“The good thing is that our preps went very well this week.
“In the goal keeping department, we have two good keepers and I think that both of them have played at the highest level.
“It’s all systems go Sunday.
“The entire squad looks ready and we as the technical team hope everything will go according to our plan,” said Mamatela.
“We respect Chiefs but we don’t fear them.”
Tornado have their No1 goalie Phuti Lekoloane – who’s since been joined by the fearless and talented Khanya Mini – who guided EC Bees in their Nedbank Cup clash against Mamelodi Sundowns last season.
Mangaliso added: “The people who follow the Motsepe League will know we have two brilliant keepers who have the relevant experience.
“We should be able to make the right decision on Sunday about who’s in the starting line-up.
“But both our goal keepers are more than capable of guarding us against Chiefs.
“Mini was the one who gave Mamelodi Sundowns problems in the Nedbank Cup.
“Phuti on the other hand won the league for us and he performed well at the playoffs.”
The game kick offs at 3pm...