Durban-based Royal AM FC has to overturn a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) team TP Mazembe in Wednesday’s CAF Confederation Cup game.
Their opponents TP Mazembe are acclimatising in Durban before their encounter on Wednesday night. Royal AM say despite ill-treatment from DRC, they are ready to overturn the score.
Royal AM are getting ready for the Wednesday clash at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. This is their maiden continental cup.
Royal AM – who are popularly referred to as Thwihli Thwahla – have already put aside the Mbabane Highlanders of eSwatini and Zesco United from Zambia.
The KZN outfit suffered a two-nil defeat in their first-leg match against DRC’s TP Mazembe. They need to score more than three goals to advance to the group matches of the CAF Confederation Cup.
They partly blame it on the dirty mind games before and during the match.
Royal AM coach Abram Nteo says, “They disturbed our goalkeeper a lot, in terms of throwing the bottles around the field, taking his water, mixing it with something, we did have that problem on the other side but it’s one of those things. But we are ready. We won’t do that when they come to this side. We will only treat them well and play the game.”
Royal AM captain, Samuel Manganyi, says they have put their recent defeat behind them and are geared for the next challenge. “The treatment yes was bad, but sometimes it teaches you to be mentally strong. so as much as we can say it’s bad for Africa but I think they are using all their tactics to destabilize the other teams. it’s working for them. we just need to be mentally strong.”
Manganyi says they are relying on home support to lift them up. “I think so far so good. because from where we come from it wasn’t easy but I think the guys have adjusted to what happened to forget about what happened. So the preparations currently are going well.”
The Thwihli Thwahla’s match against TP Mazembe which has been relegated to the CAF Confederation Cup competition from CAF Champions League is scheduled for the Moses Mabhida Stadium at 7 PM. Two other South African teams – Cape Town City and Marumo Gallants – are also participating in the Confederation Cup on Wednesday.
