Fearless Roses hope to upset Santos

Looking for upset … Roses United have to beat Santos if they want to advance past the last 16 of the Nedbank Cup.

Bloemfontein’s Roses United are looking to cause another cup upset when they meet Santos in the Nedbank Cup round of the last 16 teams on Sunday.

The Vodacom league side caught everyone by surprise when they advanced in the competition. They are hoping to continue riding the Nedbank Cup wave alongside the country’s best teams that are mainly found in the Premier Soccer League.

They are the only Vodacom league side that are still present in the competition, and did that by knocking the University of Pretoria’s AmaTuks out in the round of the last 32 of the Nedbank Cup with a 2-0 victory.

According to United’s media relations officer Tshidiso Mokhele, the club is very happy to advance into the next stage of the competition alongside their premier league counterparts.

“Our players will get to display their talent for people to see the type of skilful players we have in our team.”

Mokhele also dismissed the perception that United fear the Cape Town based side.

Ready for clash … Roses United coach John Tlale believes his side will do well against premier league side Santos in the Nedbank Cup onSunday.

“We do not fear Santos and we are just going to let our players go out there and play. We are under no pressure because we are the only Vodacom League side that has advanced in the Nedbank Cup.”

United head coach and Bafana Bafana legend John Tlale believes the club will take a lot from their encounter with Santos.

“We know it is going to be a very difficult game for us, but it is also a mountain we are ready to climb. The boys will definitely get a lot of experience from the game and it serves as motivation for them to get the opportunity to rub shoulders with some of the Premier Soccer League’s top players. So I think it is going to be a very good game at the end of the day.”

Tlale, who was United’s co-oach, took over as the interim head coach after Benjamin Reed was fired last month after a string of poor performances by the club. Tlale said he is aware of the performance mandate as required by the club.

“Yes, we have been given a mandate and we also set targets ourselves as coaches and players. At the end of the day we want to win the league and if we can get 75 points or more then we can manage to win the league. I have been with this team for the past three years and I understand how everything operates here.”

Sunday’s match will be played at the Botshabelo Stadium. Kick-off is at 15:00. This is the same venue where Santos went down 3-0 to Bloemfontein Celtic last weekend.

It will be the Cape Town side’s second trip to the Botshabelo venue in less than a week, and they will be looking to overturn their misfortune and make up for last week’s loss when they come up against the Vodacom League side.

The winner of the match will advance to the quarter finals of the Nedbank Cup.