BY OBAKENG MELETSE
TS Galaxy will go head-to-head with D’General in the last-16 of the Nedbank Cup on Sunday at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein (3pm kickoff).
The Botshabelo-based D’General are one of the two ABC Motsepe League teams left in the round of 16, and TS Galaxy know all about not underestimating opponents from lower divisions – as they won the competition in 2019 after a 1-0 victory against Kaizer Chiefs in the final.
TS Galaxy coach Sead Ramovic believes his team can repeat their 2019 heroics, as long as they stay focused and understand that the game against D’General is a must-win encounter.
“It was a beautiful thing that we won the cup in the past,” the German-Bosnian mentor said this week.
“But we have two options: we stay in the past and be happy about it and not get anything out of it, or the other option is to go again and try to repeat it. We must set new goals and continue to improve ourselves. We have a long way to go as a club and as a team.”
Ramovic and his technical team are not taking anything for granted.
“We went and watched two games of D’General live and we have some information, and we will analyse and see what game plan we can have as our goal is to go to the next round. We are confident we can go there and win the game.
“They are a well-coached team, and we could see that they play well. They have fast players, and it will be a tough game for us, but we will try our best to get our quality out there and increase our chance to win the game.”
Galaxy have failed to score in their last two fixtures – they drew goalless against Richards Bay following a 2-0 defeat at Cape Town Spurs.
This has led to questions being asked about their form.
“We have to respect everyone. It’s not easy. I’ve said it so many times: if we are not 100% we can lose to any team,” Ramovic said.
“But if we are (100%) and give it our best, we can also beat anyone.
“We have to improve our consistency because if you’re not ready mentally, you can tend to take it easy and go into a comfort zone.”
Speaking about the team’s mental state following a recent accident which resulted in one person’s death, Ramovic believes it’s something the team will not forget.
“The picture we saw will stay with us for the rest of our lives. It’s something we cannot change. But we must know that life in this world is short, and we cannot run away.
“One day it will come to us, and we will not be part of this beautiful world. We pray the woman who lost her life is resting in a beautiful place in heaven. We will try our best to help where we can.”
IOL Sport