I didn't says he was special and according to Last Order, he wasn't even beaten. Like Kadaj near the end of AC, he just sort of submitted. IT was a lame rape of the recap. Fact is, Tseng was nearly killed by Sephclone, but he's a Turk, not some runt from the slums or an onlooker at Gold Saucer. Even the SOLDIERs who became "clones" only died because they stood around waiting to be cut down.
Damn it, Cloud ain't no standard SOLDIER. Even Seph, the Legend of the Ten-Year War, was forced to wonder "What are you?"
Obviously, Zack was better as a SOLDIER than Cloud was and Seph kicked his ass.