Windhoek
As far as Tigers’ captain Pekka Hamukwaya is concerned, not even the departure of coach Bobby Samaria will dampen their spirits going into this Saturday’s Standard Bank Super Cup clash against premiership champions African Stars. The match takes place on Saturday at the Sam Nujoma Stadium.
In fact, Hamukwaya believes Samaria’s hasty exit from the club has made them morally stronger as a team. He also believes that the arrival of new mentor Brian Isaacs will not affect their tactical ability nor change their attitude.
“Our plan is very clear. We will go out there on Saturday with one thing on our mind and that is to win the Standard Bank Super Cup. We want to start the season on a high, so winning the cup will be a great boost going into the new season,” said a confident Hamukwaya.
“Obviously losing our coach (Samaria) had some effect on the players but we have grown stronger through the process. We now have a new coach (Isaacs), so it’s a matter of adapting to the new system and making sure we don’t lose focus of our objectives – such as winning the Super Cup this Saturday while equally making sure we start the new season on a positive note,” said the Bidvest Cup winning skipper.
African Stars face the same dilemma after having recently parted ways with premiership winning coach Woody Jacobs, who was replaced by Samaria. But the club’s sensational new recruit Obrey Amseb is adamant the squad have what it takes to subdue Tigers and lift the Super Cup trophy.
“To be honest the coach left at a very crucial stage but that’s football – coaches and players come and go but the team will remain. So as players we are ready to do what is expected from us and make sure we make our supporters happy by winning the trophy. We now have a new coach and we all look forward to working with him starting this weekend and also going forward,” said the highly-gifted Amseb.
Tickets for the Standard Bank Super Cup match are available for N$30 at Computicket outlets at Shoprite and Checkers stores. The winners will walk away with N$500 000, while the runners-up are guaranteed N$250 000.