Adnan Beganovic banks on fatigue as Galaxy prepare for Mamelodi Sundowns clash

ADNAN BEGANOVIC is a "glass half-full" kind of coach. As he anticipated Saturday’s Nedbank Cup round of 16 clash against a Mamelodi Sundowns side that are overwhelming favourites, the TS Galaxy coach chose to look on the bright side of what he admits will be a tough game for his side.

“I know it will be a tough game, but it is also a game where we have a chance to do something,” he said during the pre-match media conference at the sponsor’s headquarters in Johannesburg. “And I want to try everything to get a positive result for us. We can progress to the next round, why not? Because I think TS Galaxy also play beautiful football, and we will try to play for the goal more.”

He highlighted the fact that his team are among the highest scorers in the league to indicate just how much of a chance they have of knocking Sundowns out at the Solomon Mahlangu Stadium in KwaMhlanga on Saturday afternoon (3pm kick-off).

“If I'm right, we are among the top three clubs for scoring goals. We create a lot of opportunities, we score a lot of goals. We want to keep going, work hard and believe in ourselves, and then let's see what the game shows us in the end.”

Galaxy have previously won the Nedbank Cup — seven years ago under Dan Malesela when they were still in the lower league and caused a shock victory over Kaizer Chiefs. Beganovic was with the club as an assistant coach to Sead Ramovic when they reached the final of the Carling Knockout, only to lose to Stellenbosch FC.

He would love nothing more than to take the team to the final and possibly glory in the Nedbank Cup. But to do that, he first has to climb over the high hurdle that is the high-riding Sundowns, who go into the match on the back of two massive victories.

Beganovic was at the stadium for both of Sundowns’ wins over MC Alger in the CAF Champions League and Orlando Pirates in the Betway Premiership. He knows exactly what his team will be up against on Saturday.

“It’s one of the biggest clubs on the continent, not only in South Africa. We need to be 100 per cent focused for 90 minutes or 120 minutes. We have had our preparation. We have our goal. I think we have a beautiful chance to show what we have done in the last year and a half. We are playing at home and we want to progress into the next round.”

Sundowns’ strength in depth notwithstanding, Beganovic is hoping that playing high-intensity matches back-to-back has taken a toll on their opponents.

“It can be a little bit of an advantage for us because, in a short time, they played two games and spent a lot of energy. A lot of players complained about cramping, about tiredness. Also, yesterday (Wednesday at the FNB Stadium), I saw so many players — three, four, five players — asking for subs because they couldn't finish the game.”

To that effect, Beganovic is planning an alternative approach to what he’s done in previous matches.

“We want to try to play a slightly different game than we usually play. We want to prepare ourselves a little bit differently tactically against Sundowns.”

Whatever that new plan may be, Galaxy are going to have to bring their A-game to stop the marauding Sundowns. Beganovic believes it can be done.