Arthur Zwane reveals playing days derby ritual

Kaizer Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane has revealed what he would do as a player to calm his nerves ahead of the Soweto Derby.

Zwane, who featured for both Soweto giants – Chiefs and Orlando Pirates – is preparing for his first derby as head coach.

The country’s two biggest teams lock horns at the FNB Stadium in a potentially explosive encounter.  

“Individuals are not the same for various reasons. We started talking about the game even before the MTN8 game.

“Some players, maybe just to ease the situation for themselves, play music, and some pray a lot. They’ve got different ways of trying to calm their nerves.

“I, for one, used to listen to a lot of gospel music to calm down and to make sure that I focused for the entire week,” Zwane said.

The Chiefs coach was speaking at the pre-derby press conference in Johannesburg on Thursday.

Chiefs were booted out of the MTN8 tournament by AmaZulu last weekend and would want to make amends in the derby.

And Zwane is confident the form of Pirates, who advanced to the MTN8 final at the expense of Mamelodi Sundowns, will not count on Saturday.

“Knowing very well what’s going to happen when the stadium is packed to capacity.

“I know that most of the players right now feel like they have done their best in the MTN8. But the result that we desired, we didn’t get it.

“Right now, they want to redeem themselves, go out there and give their utmost best.”

He said it was important to start the derby well if they were to get the desired result against their in-form rivals.

Interestingly, the two teams have won five of their 12 DStv Premiership fixtures this season and are separated by a single point.