AmaZulu manager Benni McCarthy says he is proud of the way his side played to progress to the next round of the CAF Champions League.
On Saturday, AmaZulu played against Nyasa Big Bullets in Malawi in their second leg tie after losing the first match 1-0 and somehow turned things around to run out 3-1 winners in Lilongwe and progress 3-2 on aggregate.
The stunning result surprised most, especially after Usuthu’s poor start to the season, failing to win any of their opening three DStv Premiership fixtures and crashing out of the MTN8 Cup.
In an interview with TimesLive, McCarthy said he was proud of how his team had turned things around after their first leg home loss.
“If I really must be honest, I think myself and the whole of SA were very shocked when we lost at home, but I have to say we never underestimated them,” McCarthy said.
“They were going to be more disciplined, organised and reluctant to want to make a game of it because they scored the all-important goal.
“They were always going to be uncompromising and we are the ones who were going to have to win the game.
“We had to outsmart them and I think we did by playing two big strikers that they couldn’t handle.
“I think we nailed our strategy down to the tee. But I did not think that we would make it so difficult, complicate it for ourselves by not winning at home, have to come all out in Malawi, be under pressure and have to be composed and disciplined, and almost like fight for your life kind of situation,” McCarthy told TimesLive.
“So I am just very happy for the players. They were able to overturn the deficit and they showed great maturity, experience and desire that we maybe lacked at home when we lost 0-1. We did not have a lot of desire.
“But we showed spirit and we showed character, we showed why we finished second in our domestic league,” he added.AmaZulu will next be in action on Wednesday at 15h00 when they face Golden Arrows in a DStv Premiership clash at Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium.
