AmaZulu head coach Pablo Franco Martin will face a familiar foe in Kaizer Chiefs’ new mentor Nasreddine Nabi, when the two sides meet this evening in a Betway Premiership encounter at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.
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The Spanish Usuthu coach faced up to Nabi in their time in Tanzania, when Martin was coach of Simba FC for the 2021/22 season, while Nabi took charge of Young Africans.
Tanzanian times
The two sides’ league meetings ended in goalless draws, though Nabi’s Young Africans ended up romping to the Tanzanian Premier League title, with Simba some 13 points behind in second place.
Nabi’s side also beat Martin’s Simba 1-0 in the semifinals of the Tanzanian cup.
Martin has been impressed by what he has seen so far from Nabi’s Amakhosi, who came back to beat Marumo Gallants 2-1 in their Betway Premiership opener.
“I really like them (Chiefs),” Martin told a press conference last week ahead of tonight’s game.
“I think they have improved from last season. The current coach (Nabi), I know him well because I played against him in Africa and he has been successful wherever he goes.
“I think they signed very good players where they had weaknesses and in positions where they did not have so many weaknesses they were capable of creating competition, and that makes a team grow.”
AmaZulu’s losing start
AmaZulu, for their part, started their season with a 2-1 loss at Polokwane City, with new loan signing Etiosa Ighodaro getting Usuthu’s only goal of the game.
“My goal this season is to score more than I did last campaign,” the Nigerian 23 year-old, who is on loan at AmaZulu from Mamelodi Sundowns, told the club’s official website.
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“I need to work hard to be able to help the team and score goals. To score in the first game already boosted my confidence, I’m really happy. The work is not done yet, there are a lot of games to play.”
“Although we are disappointed with the way the game ended, we did play well. We are confident that in our next game, we will take maximum points.”
