Casric Stars coach James Mthombeni said his side were prepared to suffer to engineer Nedbank Cup success as they continued their giant-killing run with a shock 2-1 away victory over AmaZulu on Saturday.
The second-tier side are the first through to next month’s semifinal with goals from Mfundo Thikazi and Decide Chauke securing success in extra time in their quarterfinal tie at Moses Mabhida Stadium.
“It was a tough game because of the weather. AmaZulu were better in possession, but our plan was that we were prepared to come here and suffer a little bit, just to defend well, and then our objective was to get a goal … and we got that goal.
“AmaZulu threw everything at us, but because I was here on Wednesday (watching AmaZulu play against Magesi), I made sure that we dealt with them correctly, especially with their full backs going forward. “
“I also told the boys that we needed to utilise the space and try to compress them, and just for us to overload behind. After 70 minutes they weren’t pressuring anymore and then I told the boys now, we need to apply energy, and then we started playing our style of play,” Mthombeni told the post-match press conference.
Chauke is Casric's hero 😏🙌
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) March 7, 2026
They stun AmaZulu to book their place in the semi-finals ⏭️#SSDiski | #NedbankCup pic.twitter.com/bp4LKqCbsR
“I’d like just to give credit to the boys, but we need to put the focus back on Wednesday against AmaTuks.”
Casric Stars, who eliminated heavily fancied Orlando Pirates in the previous round, are also chasing promotion from the Motsepe Foundation Championship and have a key fixture against the University of Pretoria in midweek.
“I think we needed just to be patient. We cannot now say we wanted to win both promotion and cup, but as much as we're winning, it puts us in a better spot for us to even go to the final. But for now, our objective is one. We needed to go back and focus on our league race.
“What I'm emphasising to the boys is to not celebrate and don’t forget that football is a long journey. We must just go back and make sure that we are focused, and then we take one game at a time.
“Let's look at the next game, because the cup final is on Wednesday, definitely against Tuks,” Mthombeni added.