AmaZulu FC might have kicked off the season on a low, but their coach Pablo Franco Martin remains confident the good days are around the corner.
Usuthu suffered a 3-1 defeat to a rampant Kaizer Chiefs in a Betway Premiership match at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Thursday.
That’s now two defeats in as many outings for Martin and his men from the Zulu Kingdom.
The losses don’t make a good reading on the log table as they are second from the foot of the table with no point.
The Durban-based club conceded three goals in just 11 minutes in the first stanza during their loss to Amakhosi at home, but put on a brave fight, especially in the second half.
Martin felt they matched Chiefs with almost everything but Amakhosi were more clinical upfront than his men.
“It was an amazing football game with four goals, but we could have seen 10 or 12, with two teams attacking and trying to make the most of their strengths and take advantage of the opponent’s weaknesses,” Martin said.
“I think we started the game well and controlled the first minutes.
“We were holding the ball possession well with (Celimpilo) Ngema, but we conceded the first goal.
“From there we changed totally, but we kept trying and going with the plan and from there we had one situation where I thought we could have done better.
“But you know when you have players in front of you who have of that quality and those are the players that can make teams reach for the next level like (Gaston) Sirino did today.
“He scored an amazing goal, you can only congratulate him.”
The coach was left encouraged by the performance of his boys in the final half as they got off the blocks quickly and scored two minutes into the stanza through Etiosa Ighodaro.
Usuthu were denied by the woodwork twice while they had a ball cleared off the line by Amakhosi’s defence.
“In the second half, we could have scored five goals, hitting the post twice and missing chances with one-on-one with the goalkeeper,” Martin said.
“In the 15 months I have been here, I can say this is the best 45 minutes we have ever played against such a great team.
“We conceded two or three counterattacks which was normal knowing that this is one of their strengths and they played trying to take advantage of that the whole game.”
The Durbanites are on the road for their third match of the season.
They visit fellow stranglers Marumo Gallants at FreeState Stadium in Bloemfontein on Saturday at 20:00.
Gallants are yet to get off the mark with three losses on the trot into the new campaign.
