ZECA Marques responded with a voice tinged with passion when asked what his aims were as a Moroka Swallows coach.

“I want to be successful here and achieve things. I also want the team to succeed. We will build on what we achieved last season,” he said this week.

Marques’ Dube Birds take on Mamelodi Sunowns tomorrow night at 8.15pm at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in a MTN8 semifinal.

This competition presents him the perfect opportunity to raise his profile as a coach after serving as an assistant for the greater part of his coaching career.

“Honestly, I want to win the League,” Marques said.  “I would love that, no question about that.

“If you talk about winning trophies, I would like to win every available trophy.”

His desire though may raise some misgivings given the fact that Swallows have had an inconsistent start to the season.

In their opening league game, Swallows lost 3-1 to Platinum Stars after winning their MTN8 quarterfinal  against AmaZulu 2-0.

David Mathebula, their mainstay  in their fairytale run last season which saw them finish second, missed both games due to injury.

His absence is something which Marques does not see as detrimental to the club’s progress.

“We have players who are capable of replacing him. So I do not see his absence affecting us,” he said.

Against a Sundowns team which has not lost a game in their last two, Marques needs to have his arsenal sharper if he is to see Swallows beat the Brazilians in the first leg of the Wafa Wafa competition.

Having conceded three goals against Stars, Swallows’ defence looks to be their Achilles heel. This will have been identified by Sundowns coach Johan Neeskens and his rich frontline of Eleazar Rodgers and Edward Manqele, who are just two of their nine marksmen.

Neeskens has also been vocal about his desire to win trophies  this season and, like Marques, this is an opportune time for the Dutchman to guide the club to some silverware. The former Barcelona assistant has gone as far as to state that should he fail to win some silverware, he will quit the Brazilians.