In the days leading up to The Amakhosi’s dramatic penalty shoot-out ABSA Cup triumph over archrivals Orlando Pirates in May at the ABSA Stadium in Durban, kaizerchiefs.com stuck with defender Ditheko Mototo as he prepared for his first ever cup final as a professional soccer player.

We were with him through every moment right up until he was dismissed late in the game as he collected his second yellow card and watched the remainder of the game from the stands.

As Chiefs prepare for another Cup Final, also to be played in Durban, kaizerchiefs.com will be spending the next couple of days with goalkeeper Rowen Fernandez as he will be sharing his thoughts with The Amakhosi faithful.

Rowen Fernandez shares with his experience with us in the build up to the SAA Supa8 Final against SuperSport United, to be played this Saturday at the ABSA Stadium in Durban.

Wednesday October 18 Day 1: In the words of Rowen Fernandez

09h00 – 10h00: I usually get up early in the morning. Today is no different as I load my car and head out of Benoni on the East Rand of Gauteng and head towards the Kaizer Chiefs Village. It usually takes me around about 45 minutes to get to the Chiefs village and today is much the same. Along the way, and as is the case when Cup Final week comes along, you cannot focus on anything else.

As I head towards training my thoughts only rush back towards the 2004 SAA Supa8 Final when we were narrowly beaten by SuperSport in Durban. Thinking of that game really pains me as I still to this day believe we should have won that game.

10h00 – 11h00: I am early at training and most of the guys have not turned up yet. The coaches though are already there as I sit in my car waiting for the rest of the guys to turn up. Shaun Bartlett pulls in and comes to me immediately. Our conversation turns to Saturday’s game and we discuss a number of issues around the game; ranging from the kick-off time; through to tactics and a game plan.

After half an hour, the entire team has assembled, including the guys who are injured and we all enter one of the change rooms in Naturena for a team meeting. The meeting is a fruitful one, with all the guys adding their input. It does not need a genius to know that all the talk and discussion is around SuperSport.

11h00 – 12h30: Training begins with all the guys in high spirits happy and really highly motivated for Saturday’s game. Just prior to training I have a talk with Arthur Zwane and we run back to the 2004 SAA Supa8 Final. We, for a couple of moments, analyze what went wrong on that day.

In truth we did everything right and Arthur also had shot canon off the cross bar that day. Training today is very intense as we begin with the goalkeeper coach and then join the rest of the team and complete a very draining and tiring session, after which I do though feel very strong.

12h30 – 13h30: This period of the day sees the guys have lunch and board the bus for the airport. The coach has opted to take all the players with along on the trip and included are the injured parties. The likes of Siyabonga Nkosi and Emile Baron trudge along with us as we make our way to Oliver Tambo International Airport, the new name of Johannesburg International.

14h00 – 16h00: Once we arrive at the airport the players do not have much work to do as we get given our boarding passes and have our luggage checked in, so we move off past the security points. At the airport I do manage to catch a glimpse of the daily papers and as usual I head straight for the sports pages. What is not surprising is that all the papers are carrying stories around Saturday’s SAA Supa 8 Final.

What is evident from all the articles is the mindgames being played by SuperSport Coach Pitso Mosimane. I know Pitso well enough, as I have played under him at Bafana Bafana recently, to know that he is serious about wanting to win the game on Saturday and all this talk of him placing us as favourites is just a game. I do think we know better than to fall for his trickery.

As we await our flight at the boarding gate, there is a lot of chatter and banter amongst the guys, which further demonstrated the unity and good, healthy vibe in the team. When we do get airborne there is much turbulence along the way, which Derrick Spencer seems to enjoy as he mimics the bouncing plane, much to the amusement of a number of passengers.

16h00 – 19h00: We get to Durban later than expected as we had to wait quiet a while at Johannesburg Airport to get the all-clear to take off. As we land, myself and David Obua are asked by our web master to hang around in the plane. Once the rest of the passengers are off, we have to do a couple of duties for the sponsors and meet the flight crew and take pictures with them on the outside of the aircraft. Once that is done the captain invites us up into the cockpit, it was nice to finally get to inside the cockpit as the pilots gave us a quick lesson in aviation.

After thanking the pilot and crew for availing themselves for the photo opportunity, we scurry out of the airport and into the bus where we are met by a torrent of abuse from our team mates for making them wait for us. It’s all in good fun as we head to our hotel from the airport. The skies outside look grey and overcast as the rain begins to fall, we have heard from the weather service that it is expected to rain all weekend long in Durban.

19h00 – 21h00: Since we arrived a couple minutes behind schedule, we get to the hotel and move straight on to dinner, after which a number of the guys sit around chatting and joking around. As will be the case over the next few days, the topic moves back to the Supa8 Final. The overwhelming feeling amongst the guys at this stage is that we have learnt a lot from our experiences in past Cup Finals and there is an aurora of confidence around the team.

Between 20h30 and 21h00 I call it a night and head for my room, tomorrow we have a long day planned for us.