Beganovic targets Carling Knockout glory as Seema rallies Siwelele for Pirates clash

TS Galaxy coch Adnan Beganovic has set his sights on winning the Carling Knockout as his side begins their campaign against Orbit College at Olympia Park Stadium in Rustenburg on Saturday (3pm kickoff).

The Rockets were losing finalists in the 2023 edition, going down 5-4 on penalties to Stellenbosch FC after a 1-1 draw in regulation time.

Then led by Beganovic’s countryman Sead Ramovic, Galaxy have continued to grow under their new coach. After finishing fifth in the league last season, they endured early setbacks this campaign with a quarterfinal exit in the MTN8 and consecutive league defeats. However, Beganovic has since steadied the ship, guiding them to recovery and lifting the side into seventh place on the log.

The early disruption caused by Fifa’s transfer ban only added to their struggles, but with a full squad now at his disposal, the Bosnian mentor hopes to use it to drive Galaxy’s push for silverware and add to the club’s only top-flight trophy—the 2018/19 Nedbank Cup won under Dan Malesela.

“We want to bring the trophy to our club,” Beganovic said ahead of the clash.

“The feeling of playing in the final was special, and we know how it also feels to be so close to winning the trophy—leading 1-0 in the final only to concede and then lose on penalties. It was painful and we needed months to forget it, but this season we are ready to push.”

Beganovic insists that in knockout competitions, there are no underdogs with any team fully capable of upseting favourites.

“In this league everyone can beat anyone, and we have been seeing that in the league. You just need to have a good day and play a good game. Magesi won this cup, and the previous year we made the final.

“We want to push to win this trophy, and it’s a good opportunity. You do not have to play so many games—we have to go to the end and take the trophy.”

Meanwhile, Siwelele FC face a daunting assignment against one of the tournament favourites, Orlando Pirates, at Orlando Stadium on Saturday (3pm kickoff).

It will be the second meeting between the sides in under two weeks. Lehlohonolo Seema’s men narrowly lost 1-0 in their last encounter courtesy of a late Oswin Appollis strike, but they gained confidence from that performance and went on to secure a morale-boosting 1-0 derby win against Marumo Gallants last weekend.

The former Sekhukhune United coach has urged his players to show no fear against the Buccaneers and to focus only on results.

“You have to look at yourself more than paying attention to them, because then you know what to expect,” Seema said.

“You can’t go there and be scared, and that is one thing we are trying to instill within our team. We are not looking to play pretty football but just to get results, and how we do that is not that much of a concern for us.

“As long as we can manage to win the game at the end of 90 minutes, that is what we are building towards at the moment.”