‘Fohloza’ slams his strikers after AmaZulu’s embarrassing Dondol loss

AmaZulu coach Romain Folz blamed his attackers and accused the opponents of time-wasting after his team’s embarrassing Nedbank Cup last 16 defeat to amateur side Dondol Stars FC on Wednesday night.

Financially stable and ambitious AmaZulu became the second DStv Premiership team knocked out of the tournament by the ABC Motsepe League (third-tier) club Dondol, who triumphed 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw after 120 minutes.  

The Mamelodi-based upstarts’ first giant-killing act came when they beat SuperSport United 2-1 in the last 32. 

Dondol did not look out of place against the team that competes two divisions higher as they sensationally reached quarterfinals.

AmaZulu, who, unlike SuperSport played their strongest team — including Gabadihno Mhango, Bonginkosi Ntuli, Dumisani Zuma, Ramahlwe Mphahlele, Thembela Sikhakhane, Mbongeni Gumede, Abbubaker Mobara and Henrick Ekstein — were left scrambling for answers.  

Folz, nicknamed “Fohloza” by Usuthu’s supporters, said he was unhappy about the performance of his attacking department.  

“I need to look at the game again but I’m pretty sure we had more than 15 clear chances in the box, including hitting the goalpost [twice]. But if you don’t score from your chances against any opponents, you open the door for anything to happen,” he said.  

“Especially against a team like that, who are more than happy to drag you to extra time, and more than happy to waste seven minutes in the second part of the extra time and drag you to penalties.  

“But again, they scored all their penalties and we didn’t. In that regard they deserve the win and we don’t. But I believe that more than us being beaten by a better opponent, it’s not enough to create opportunities if you don’t score them.”  

Mhango was the biggest culprit on the night, not only squandering opportunities in open play but also had his penalty saved by Dondol keeper Sphamandla Gumede in the shoot-out. 

“We can clearly see what was missing. It was the accuracy in finishing. We could have been four goals up in the first half if we were more clinical, so I’m very disappointed with what I saw in the finishing department,” Folz said.  

“A lot of things should be done in that department and a lot of thinking should be done from the players because when you get chances like that, it’s not the field, it’s not the referee, it’s not anything — it’s just you missing the chances.”  

The 32-year-old French coach said his strikers should be embarrassed by their performance.  

“The only way to fix that is to work hard and for the players to have a look at themselves. I’m going to show them exactly what happened multiple times when we do the video analysis, for them to realise it is embarrassing to miss something like that.  

“You are a striker and you get paid to score and you miss, it’s embarrassing. You can only hope for them to wake up.”  

Winning the Nedbank Cup results in a place in the Caf Confederation Cup.  

Usuthu president Sandile Zungu has emphasised the need for the club to continue representing the country in continental competition after their decent maiden appearance in the 2021-22 Champions League under former coach Benni McCarthy.  

“Yes, it [the Nedbank] is the closest [easiest] way to go to Caf but at this moment in time, if we are missing chances [like this], we are not ready to go to Caf. Maybe there are other teams that are ready to go to Caf who will be better representatives,” Folz said.  

AmaZulu are in eighth place in the DStv Premiership, with little hope of a third-position finish for the other Confed Cup place, or top two for the Champions League.

Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.