Lower tier upstarts Acornbush threaten to embarrass Chiefs in mouth-watering Cup clash

Confident Acornbush United coach‚ Macdonald Makhubedu‚ stopped short of telling Kaizer Chiefs to consider themselves fortunate that he will field fringe players when the two sides meet on Sunday as his regulars would have been a tougher prospect for AmaKhosi.

But even with a second-string team Makhubedu is confident that the ABC Motsepe League side can stun AmaKhosi at Kabokweni Stadium in the Last 16 of the Nedbank Cup.

His confidence is inspired by the amateur side's win over Absa Premiership contenders Cape Town City in the last 32 with fringe players.

There is also the fact that Chiefs have been eliminated four times in this tournament by teams from the lower leagues‚ three of those occasions were in the Last 16.

• Black belt Eymael says stadium security must be grateful he didn't kick the daylights out of themIf it wasn’t for the promise Luc Eymael made to his family‚ the security guards at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium could have witnessed first-hand how the Belgian coach earned his black belt in karate. 

Makhubedu will rest his first team players‚ saving them for the promotion play-offs which would elevate them to the first division and pocket a cool R1-million if they finish first.

“We are going to the play-offs. We are looking at the bigger picture. This is one game. We are still going to play 10 Nedbank Cups if we qualify for the first division‚” Makhubedu said.

The coach insisted that there was no contradiction in playing fringe players in a match he labelled as the biggest in his and the club’s history.

• Moroka Swallows' oven roasting worries SonoMoroka Swallows’ relegation to the amateur leagues is a shame for South African football and a warning to other teams‚ says Jomo Cosmos owner Jomo Sono. 

“Those ones (the first team players) are too powerful‚” Makhubedu said.

“We’ve got good players. I don’t want to go into details. My players give me confidence to go into this game thinking that we can shock the biggest team in the country.

"But I am not saying we are going to shock them‚ just prepare for that.”

In contrast‚ Chiefs’ Steve Komphela was respectful and less-assured than the amateur side.

That’s because AmaKhosi have more to lose‚ especially Komphela who is yet to guide the club to a domestic trophy two seasons into his tenure.

• 'I don't know what's wrong with Orlando Pirates,' says Thabo Matlaba Thabo Matlaba gave about the most uninspiring dissection this week that a former Orlando Pirates captain could have on the source of the great club’s current woes – saying simply that he “did not know”. 

Acornbush are not an entirely closed book to him. There are a handful of players there that he worked with at Free State Stars.

“The opponent would always want to put one above Chiefs‚” Komphela said.

“We played Stellenbosch (who are in the first division) in the previous round and they just like teams that were lying at the bottom of log‚ thinking that we would get over them easily‚ tested us.

"When they play against us‚ they rise.

"It’s not going to be any different. In the past when we have gotten involved in these encounters‚ you mentioned Baroka when they were in the lower divisions‚ they make it difficult for us.

• Kaizer Chiefs parts ways with striker ManqeleKaizer Chiefs have ended weeks of speculation and parted ways with striker Edward Manqele. 

"They still make it difficult. Any team that we play against makes it difficult. That we have come to accept. We embrace and face that challenge.

"You respect the opponent. That they are in the ABC Motsepe League‚ to us it’s a non-starter. We have a responsibility and a duty to perform on the day.”

- TMG Digital/TMG Sport