A clash between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates is always full of drama
SOCCER: Andrew Muchineripi
IN Glasgow it’s Rangers and Celtic, in Liverpool Everton and Liverpool, in London Arsenal and Tottenham, in Milan AC and Inter, in Cairo Zamalek and Al-Ahly, and in South Africa Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates. There is nothing to quicken the pulse of a soccer supporter like a local derby and the fact that tension often strangles skill does nothing to diminish pre-match expectations.
On Saturday afternoon in the unusual surrounds of Ellis Park, the rugby stadium where the Amabokoboko conquered the world less than two years ago, the Amakhosi and the Buccaneers do battle again. The match is being staged at the home of Transvaal rugby because Chiefs enjoy home advantage and say FNB Stadium is Pirates’s home ground. The black and gold brigade usually perform at Johannesburg Stadium, whose 40 000-capacity is too small for the occasion. It’s the first of two 1996-1997 Castle Premiership clashes between the teams and a highly significant match for championship pacesetters Chiefs and fifth-placed Pirates.
Should Chiefs fail to collect the three points awarded for a victory, Manning Rangers would take over top spot in a league offering prizes totalling R2,4-million by winning at QwaQwa Stars 24 hours later. Pirates trail their greatest rivals by 12 points largely due to erratic away form which led to defeats against modest opponents Wits, Real Rovers and Bloemfontein Celtic.
They do have two matches in hand on the leaders, however, and success this weekend would leave them well positioned to mount a serious challenge for the R500 000 first prize. The club winning the first Castle Premiership will also be eligible for the 1998 African Champions Cup, where a club can pocket R2-million by reaching the decider.
Like all derbys, form is usually more of a hindrance than a help, and the fact that Pirates humiliated Chiefs 4-1 in the Bob Save Super Bowl semi-finals last November can be confined to the scrapbooks of history. Pirates tormentor-in-chief Jerry Sikhosana will be hoping to build on his 30- minute hat-trick, but one of the defenders he persecuted, Chiefs captain Neil Tovey, must watch from the sideline. Tovey, outstanding for Bafana Bafana in the World Cup draw with Zambia last weekend, is suspended, adding to the concerns of veteran Brazilian-born coach Walter da Silva.
Chiefs may boast the best defensive record in the Premiership with only five goals conceded in 13 matches, but the thought of facing Pirates without the national captain can only heighten anxiety within the Amakhosi camp.
In the last encounter with Pirates, Chiefs could have conceded eight had young goalkeeper Brian Baloyi not been in the sort of form that has seen him knocking ever louder on the Bafana Bafana door. The tactics of recently departed Pirates coach Victor Bondarenko were simple and devastatingly effective that day: play the ball into vacant space outside Chiefs’ penalty area.
Forced to advance from their comfort zones, Chiefs’ defenders were found lacking in pace and strength and Sikhosana had a field day before Helman Mkhalele completed the rout.
Chiefs missed injured Jacob Tshisevhe that boiling hot afternoon (in more ways than one) and he will be back to reinforce a defence likely to include Lifa Gqosha, Cleophas Dlodlo and Ntsie Maphike. Much was made in the media about Chiefs’ woeful defending against the rampant Buccaneers, but the gentlemen who must share the blame surprisingly escaped largely unscatched.
If midfielders don’t tackle, and Isaac Kungoane, David Modise and Thabang Lebese are reluctant practitioners at the best of times, the pressure on the defence can quickly reach breaking point. South Africa desperately needs multipurpose midfielders like Nigerians Jay Jay Okocha, Sunday Oliseh, Finidi George and Nwankwo Kanu.
Just look at Bafana Bafana where Innocent Buthelezi and Eric Tinkler trade largely on muscle while the more skilful Doctor Khumalo and “Shoes” Moshoeu are not exactly renowned for full-blooded tackling. That is not to say that Pirates are perfect either in this crucial area, but in young Dumisa Ngobe they have arguably the closest to a typical Nigerian midfielder, a player with brain and brawn. Midfield is where this showdown will be won and lost (or drawn if everyone cancels everyone out) and Ngobe should be supported by captain John Moeti and Mkhalele.
While Sikhosana can hardly hope for another hat-trick, even in his wildest dreams, Pollen Ndlanya will be anxious to escape the clutches of Gavin Lane more often than during the cup tie.
Ndlanya, a late substitute for Sikhosana in Zambia to win his first cap, might as well have stayed at home, so seldom did he win the ball against arguably the best uncapped player in the country. And if the sight of Baloyi between the posts brings a smile to Chiefs’ army of supporters, Nigerian Williams Okpara has few equals in South Africa when in top form, which happens to be most of the time. So many stars, so many potential scenarios. The only certainty really is that 68 000 supporters will fill Ellis Park for the latest round in the ultimate South African soccer passion play.