Kaizer Chiefs head coach Arthur Zwane has responded to suggestions that his side was over-confident ahead of the Nedbank Cup Soweto Derby against Orlando Pirates.
Chiefs management and some players were caught on camera celebrating drawing Pirates in the Nedbank Cup semi-final draw of lots that was conducted straight after they eliminated Royal AM.
Amakhosi's jubilation for meeting Pirates in the semi-finals of the cup was interpreted, particularly by the Buccaneers fans, as taking them for granted after the Glamour Boys beat them five times in a row before the encounter over the weekend.
Read: Zwane Says Current Chiefs Better Than Baxter Hunt's
The Sea Robbers eliminated Chiefs 2-1 in extra time in the grudge encounter on Saturday and denied them a chance to end their trophy-less run.
There were suggestions after the game that Amakhosi lost because they were overconfident but Zwane says that's not the case and explained that they did not celebrate meeting Pirates in the semi-finals because they took them for granted.
"I don't think so, look the celebration was not about we took Pirates for granted, it was more of whoever, even if it was another team we were still going to celebrate you know," Zwane said in a post-match press conference.
"But for us to be quite honest it was not a celebration, it was 'okay, bring it on'. Obviously it was one of the big games in the South African football calendar.
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"And if you play against your direct rivals, you always want to get the best out of the players and the players as well, they see this as an opportunity to showcase their talent," he said.
The Amakhosi legend went on and reiterated that they were just happy at the prospect of performing in such a big profile game and it's unfortunate they ended up on the losing side.
"Because each and everyone, today for two hours if not more, South Africa came to a standstill watching this game, so who does not want to be part and parcel of that? It's history in the making," he said.
"Yes, unfortunately it's just that we ended up on the losing side but I'm still proud of the guys, the effort that they gave and the commitment, so it wasn't to be, we learn from this one and move on, we'll try rectify our mistakes going forward and give our best all the time," he added.
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