SOCCER:Andrew Muchineripi
`I’M a Pirate, I was born a Pirate and I will die a Pirate.” Those were the words of an ardent soccer fan when I enquired about the outcome of Saturday’s Bob Save Superbowl semifinal clash between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chief at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg.
And most certainly, the way Pirates have been performing of late it would seem that the Sea Robbers would have to die if they want to advance to the final of South Africa’s version of the FA Cup. But in South Africa, when Chiefs and Pirates meet, no matter what the competition, Soweto and most of Johannesburg’s townships come to a standstill.
A Soweto derby usually has all the ingredients of a cracker: pride, passion, skill and flair, and Saturday should be no exception when the two sides clash for the second time this year. Earlier this year they played to a goalless draw in the Coca-Cola Challenge. But on Saturday there has to be a winner, even if it means the game going to penalties, as many expect it will.
The Buccaneers are struggling at the moment and seem set to be hammered by an Amakhosi outfit that is currently looking quite impressive. Pirates are likely to be without goalkeeper William Okpara, one of the club’s key players. In the past, Okpara has single- handedly thwarted opponents to lead his team to victory. Okpara is on national duty for the Nigerian national side in Turkey.
Also, in the past few weeks there have been whispers of some turmoil and discontent in the Pirates camp, and that Russian coach Victor Bondarenko is on his way out after a string of poor performances, which culminated in a 3-0 hammering by Real Rovers in a league game last weekend. But as yet there has been no official word, so “Mind Your Language” as Bondarenko is known, lives on.
But, as we have become accustomed to now, no matter how badly Pirates are performing, nothing motivates them more than the sight of a black and yellow shirt, as was pointed out in Abidjan when Pirates achieved the impossible in beating ASEC at home to win the African Champions Cup.
On the other hand, although not in the class of past Chiefs outfits, Neil Tovey and his side have impressed with the fact that they are picking up the points. And one of the main reasons they have been doing so is due to the form of prolific goalscorer Pollen Ndlanya, who has been on target seven times so far this campaign. Since the beginning of the year Ndlanya has scored 17 goals in all competitions and looks set to continue on Saturday. Ndlanya has hit a purple patch and he received his reward with a call-up from national coach Clive Barker for the World Cup game against Zaire. But he is a player who stays away from the hard stuff and the man who is likely keep a tight watch on Ndlanya’s movements is burly Pirates defender Gavin “Stability Unit” Lane.
Pirates will be pinning their hopes on Jerry Sikhosana, another player who has been called up by Barker for the Zaire game. Cape Town Spurs meet Jomo Cosmos in the other semifinal on Sunday.