Martin’s First Words As AmaZulu Coach

New AmaZulu coach Pablo Franco Martin says he wants to make history with Usuthu, saying he’s already shown what he’s capable of when he met Orlando Pirates with Simba SC in the CAF Confederations Cup.

Martin was appointed as the Usuthu head coach on a three-year contract on Tuesday night, replacing Ayanda Dlamini who departed after Usuthu finished in 12th place in the DStv Premiership last season.

The 43-year-old, who worked as assistant at Real Madrid under Julen Lopetugui in 2018 and also under the Argentinean Santiago Solari, led Simba to the Confed Cup semi-final last year, losing to Pirates, who eventually lost to RSB Berkane of Morocco in the final.

He insisted that if he can compete against Pirates with Simba, he should be able to do event better with AmaZulu, considering them at a higher level.   

“I’m very excited, I’ve been following AmaZulu for a long time. I know how big the club is,” said Martin.

“I’m going there with intention of making history and bringing the team back to where it deserves to be. I want to make everyone there, especially the fans and the people in the club proud of what we’re going to do. I know it’s a very competitive league, anyone can beat anyone.

“I already have an experience of playing in Joburg against Orlando Pirates in CAF [Confederations Cup] last year and that time you could see the level difference between teams from Tanzania, even if it is a huge team like Simba and Pirates. But we could compete against them and that is my intention.

“If I could do it with Simba being inferior, I’m sure with AmaZulu I’m going to be capable of performing and fighting for the tournaments and as I told you before, bring the team back to the place it deserves.”

Martin, whose only trophy so far came in the 2019/20 season in Kuwait where former Chippa United defender James Okwuosa was an unlikely hero against Kuwait SC in the final, then went on to explain his playing philosophy.

“I’m an attacking mentality coach and I don’t understand football without ambitions,” he added

These words will come as music to the ears of Usuthu president Sandile Zungu as he was not impressed with the style of play adopted by the club’s previous coaches.

“My ambitions are to play the best football possible, try to be offensive, try to win as many games as possible,” continued Martin, who also coached Getafe in the Spanish LaLiga.  

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“I want the fans to see a team that is aggressive, that is committed in defense, working hard in reaction to the game. In the end, it is making them proud of us.

“I want fans to stay in the game, even if we don’t get good results but go away with the team that performed very well. Sometimes you cannot win because this is a game and sometimes as a coach or player they are things you cannot control.

“But I’m sure our fans are going to enjoy what we are going to give. Hebe Usuthu!”