Kaitano Tembo talks about the turning point for SuperSport United

SuperSport United assistant coach Kaitano Tembo

SUPERSPORT United assistant coach Kaitano Tembo feels winning the SAA Supa8 in 2004 was a watershed moment for the club when Pitso Mosimane was in charge of Matsatsantsa.

Tema was part of that team that defeated Kaizer Chiefs 1-0 in the final at Absa Stadium, as defender Phil Evans slotted a penalty for Mosimane’s side.

SuperSport went on to win three straight Premiership crowns from 2008 to 2010 and reached the final of the same cup competition in 2012 where they went down to Moroka Swallows.

United are again in the final of the tournament – now called the MTN8 – under coach Eric Tinkler, with his former side Cape Town City the opponents at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday.

“Two thousand and four is quite a long time. I think when we won that cup we had gone about six or seven years without even getting to the final and Pitso was the coach,” said Tembo.

“I think it was a big turnaround for the club when we won the Supa8. After that we went to six cup finals. I think we are trying to match the vision of the club with players who are still hungry and players who still want to achieve, irrespective of their age.

“Coming to Saturday’s game, it is different ball game altogether. We’ve got to just really focus and concentrate. We’ve been to a lot of cup finals; some we’ve won and some we have lost. So Saturday’s game is no different to that.”

SuperSport have won their last two cup games at the match venue. They won the Nedbank Cup last season by outclassing Orlando Pirates 4-1 in the final and also defeated Kaizer Chiefs in the MTN8 quarter-finals in Durban.

However, Tembo doubts this could be classed as an advantage this weekend.

“Not really. I think it is always about the players, although we really appreciate whenever we come and play here.

“I’m not going to say that it does give us an added advantage. I think our performances on the day will matter. It is very crucial for us to be able to dish out a good performance and get the desired result.” – kickoff.com