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UJ are showing ‘no nerves’ ahead of second successive final

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The University of Johannesburg are on the verge of something that seemed unthinkable two years ago as they welcome tournament giants Tshwane University of Technology in the final of the 2022 Varsity Football Tournament at UJ Stadium on Thursday evening (19h00).

Going into the 2021 tournament, the University of Pretoria (UP-Tuks) and TUT went in as favourites as always, but the UJ squad led by head coach Karabo Mogudi had other ideas.

Tactically sound, hard working and an unbreakable team spirit has seen them win 12 of their last 17 games in the competition whilst only tasting defeat twice.

With the bulk of the squad still present after romping to their first-ever title last season, it seems business as usual, as they swept aside the 2019 champions North West University in the semi-finals last week and take on Bushy Moloi’s TUT side, who ironically are one of the teams who managed to taste victory against the tireless UJ outfit.

Despite what’s on the line, Mogudi says there’s a sense of calm amongst the boys who’ve been preparing for their back-to-back final berth.

“Preparations are going according to plan. No nerves whatsoever. The squad is looking fresh and all we can ask them is to play to the best of their plan with the game plan in mind,” he told Varsity Football.

“We can only control our individual and collective tasks. We will look to avoid the final external factors and focus on the challenge on the field of play.

“Nerves will always be there but at least we have more than half the squad who played in last year’s final so it’s not going to be totally new to them.”

It’s been a gruelling campaign thus far and their captain Neo Lebopa who signed a professional contract with Motsepe Foundation Championship side La Masia recently, had to settle for a place on the bench in the semi-final triumph – Mogudi says he’s hopeful that he may have his best eleven available.

“The squad is at 95% availability rate. We are just waiting for the medical team to clear one of the players but he trained at 50% without a problem yesterday,” he confirmed.

“So I think for the duration of the match minutes that we may need him in the match on Thursday, he will be ok.

“A clean bill of health but two days of training can always change a lot of things.”

UJ take on TUT for the biggest Varsity Football prize in Africa on Thursday evening at the UJ Stadium in Soweto.

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.