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Maduka Confident Despite Chaos And Poor Run Against Pirates

  • January 21, 2025
  • 3 min read
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Maduka Confident Despite Chaos And Poor Run Against Pirates

Despite the recent chaos surrounding the club, Royal AM coach John Maduka remains upbeat as his side prepares to host Orlando Pirates at Harry Gwala Stadium in their first match of the new year on Thursday (19:30).

The match against Chippa United, scheduled for a couple of weeks ago, was postponed due to the freezing of club assets by the South African Revenue Service (SARS). SARS is reportedly seeking to recover approximately R40 million in unpaid taxes from club owner Shauwn “MaMkhize” Mkhize.  

With all her accounts frozen, the club was severely impacted. This resulted in delayed salary payments for December, which were only made a few weeks ago.

While things appear to be returning to some semblance of normalcy, Royal AM faces a precarious position in the Betway Premiership. They currently occupy the second-from-bottom spot with eight points from 11 games, one point above bottom-placed Magesi. The club has only managed one victory this season.

However, Maduka is eager to face Pirates, a fixture he describes as always intriguing.

“We are playing against a team that we have to minimize making mistakes,” said Maduka, whose side last played was in December when they lost 3-1 to TS Galaxy. 

“They wait for you and they punish you. So, it’s a game that we have to be focused throughout the match, concentrate throughout the match, minimize mistakes at crucial areas, play according to our strength, don’t give them time and space on the ball.  

“If we can do that, if we can be able to deal with them when we don’t have the ball, I think we will be okay. It is very important that we have to stop them from playing, it’s very important for us to play our game. 

“So, it’s going to be a very interesting game and it is always interesting to play against Orlando Pirates, it’s always a good match when we play against them.”  

Despite his confidence, Maduka acknowledges the challenge posed by Pirates, against whom Royal AM has a poor recent record. They have not defeated Pirates in their last seven encounters and are currently on a losing streak, having lost four of their last five matches.

On the other hand, Pirates, currently second in the Betway Premiership, enter the match with high morale following their 2-1 victory over Egyptian giants Al Ahly in the CAF Champions League.  

“We must change this,” said Maduka when asked that their record doesn’t look good against Pirates. 

“It’s our home game. It is high time that we also win games at home since it is difficult to win games away from home. 

“This is our home game, we must go all out, try and get points because we don’t have points. It is very important for us to get points and here it is an opportunity for us change that.  

“Again, if we do well against Pirates, it also gives us confidence going forward. We will go express ourselves there because the pressure is not on us, the pressure is on Pirates as everyone expects Pirates to beat us. That should give us an advantage to go there and play without pressure.”  

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Robin-Duke Madlala

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