Da Cruz urges Kaizer Chiefs to embrace ‘positive pressure’ in Soweto derby

Kaizer Chiefs head coach Fernando Da Cruz says his players must handle the “positive pressure” of facing Orlando Pirates when the two Soweto rivals meet at FNB Stadium on Saturday.

The Frenchman is under scrutiny after Chiefs were knocked out of the CAF Confederation Cup at an early stage. Sporting Director Kaizer Motaung Jr publicly backed Da Cruz following that disappointment.

Chiefs responded on Tuesday with a convincing 3-0 win over TS Galaxy in the last 16 of the Carling Knockout, but Da Cruz accepts that the derby will present a significantly tougher test.

“It will be a positive pressure but we must manage this pressure to play a good game, a game with intensity and with a lot of commitment,” the 53-year-old said at a press conference at SuperSport Studios in Randburg.

The match will also test the readiness of Chiefs’ younger players, with Da Cruz questioned about whether his squad has enough experience for such a significant occasion.

“Orlando Pirates has more experienced players in their squad, they have players who are playing international competitions with Bafana Bafana and international competitions with the club, in different positions, they have more experienced players than us,” he said.

The former Lille coach believes, however, that experience should not be judged solely by a player’s age. He pointed to several members of his squad who have already played in the Soweto derby.

“But the experience does not only come from the age, the experience also comes from how many times you play in the PSL for example and we have in our squad young players who are used to playing this derby. So yes, we also have players who are ready to play this derby.”

Da Cruz said Chiefs would seek to remain faithful to their style rather than be distracted by the intensity surrounding the fixture.

“We want to play a good game in front of our fans, we want to play our model game, we must be focused on the field, because we know that it is an emotional game, with a lot of passion around the field but the most important thing is to focus on our game model, the way we want to play this game, to give a good image to our fans and to everyone,” Da Cruz added.