JOHANNESBURG – Jomo Sono reckons it was his pre-match psychological warfare that ensured that they got the better of Baroka FC 1-0 in the last-32 of the Nedbank Cup at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Tuesday.
The Jomo Cosmos chairman and coach downplayed his team’s chances of progressing to the last-16. especially against Baroka who claimed the Telkom Knockout with giant slaying performances against Mamelodi Sundowns, Bidvest Wits and Orlando Pirates.
“Yes (I expected that it would be the way it turned out to be). When I said we had no chance on TV, it was mind games, and they fell for it,” Sono said after the regulation time win courtesy of striker Inky Masuku's 30th minute goal.
“He won everything, and he missed a few chances,” Sono said of their match winner. “When we got him from Mbombela United, he played well but he faded. When we got him for this game, we knew he’d be handful - and in the air he was unbelievable.”
Ezenkosi are building a reputation of depriving Telkom Knockout champions a successive domestic cup competition - they eliminated Bidvest Wits (2017/2018 season TKO champions) from the competition last season.
Sono won the competition as the Bob Save Super Bowl in 1990. After eight PSL teams failed to make the second round, Sono has started to believe that he can replicate the success from 28 years ago.
“We hope to get an easy draw so that we go up,” Sono said. “With the two big boys - Pirates and Sundowns - out, we fancy our chances. Wits are also a problem, but we’ll give it a go.”
Jomo Sono: When I said we had no chance on TV, it was mind games, and they fell for it. Photo: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix
The bigger picture at Cosmos is the revival of their league play-off chances. They are 12th on the log. The win against Baroka ended a four-game winless streak.
“This game was a morale booster, the players will start believing in themselves now,” Sono said. “They’ll believe that they can beat anybody.”