Liver Brothers to take on Sekhukhune with courage

From plying their trade on the dusty ground of Kildare, a rural area in Bushbuckridge, Mpumalanga, a different reality has dawned for Liver Brothers.

The amateur side who are campaigning in the Men’s Regional League Safa Ehlanzeni Kruger 1 zone will lock horns with Premier Soccer League side Sekhukhune United in the Nedbank Cup first round at Peter Mokaba Stadium tonight (7.30pm).

They will face probably their toughest test and captain Lebogang Sibuyi talked about their chances of upsetting Babina Noko.

“We are not nervous, we are ready to play against Sekhukhune,” Sibuyi told Sowetan yesterday.

“The guys are excited to play this match and they believe we can cause an upset and that is motivating us to go all out.

“We are going to play with some of our role models but this is football, and it can surprise you. We are going there to play and we are not going to fear them. We are not scared, we are ready for them.”

The club's MD Amukelani Gazibe said although their plan was to get promotion to the ABC Motsepe League, they also wanted to go far in this competition.

“We played 10 games to qualify for the Nedbank Cup. This is our first season in the league and now we have qualified for this competition,” Gazibe said.

“Our focus is to win this league and qualify for the ABC Motsepe League. We are not planning to stay in the Men’s Regional League (fourth-tier) and if we can qualify for the Motsepe League this season...

“We don’t have good facilities here, even the ground where we are playing and training is just normal. We only see a good stadium now because we qualified for the Nedbank Cup.

“But we camped at Mbombela Stadium for training so the boys can get used to the grass. But we are not going to fear them, it’s 11 v 11 the boys are ready...”

Placed 6th on the log with 21 points from 12 games, Liver Brother have a fair chance at promotion as they are 11 points off the pace with two games in hand. 

Meanwhile, Sekhukhune coach Brandon Truter said they won’t be taking their opponents lightly as they look to bounce back to winning ways..

“When I came to this club the objective was clear: we wanted to do well in this competition,” Truter told the club media department.

“It also gives us an opportunity to get back to winning ways. We are not taking our opponents lightly, we are aiming to win it and we will field the best possible eleven to do the job.”