Andrew Muchineripi Soccer
The Rothmans Cup temperature could reach boiling point in more ways than one when Sundowns host Orlando Pirates at Odi Stadium on Sunday in the second leg of a semi-final showdown.
It reached 40 degrees north of Pretoria last weekend when Sundowns struck five goals past Santos, a club so used to swirling wind and driving rain on the Cape Flats that they lodged a vain appeal for the kickoff to be delayed two hours.
“We roasted them,” boasted Sundowns PR director Alex Shakoane at the weekly Premier Soccer League media conference as he fired the opening shot in the war of words that is synonymous with high-profile matches. Pirates will experience no acclimatisation problems, but have problems of their own following a 2-2 first-leg stalemate when the clubs clashed in the first leg at well-populated FNB Stadium two weeks ago. The match contained a high-drama content with Sundowns and Pirates leading before irregular scorer Page Mahlangu snatched a draw for the Brazilians with time ticking away.
On a highly controversial note, Sundowns had “goals” by Daniel Mudau and Dan Malisela disallowed with television replays clearly illustrating that a shot by the latter had crossed the goalline before being cleared. Sundowns officials blew several gaskets with Shakoane, affectionately known as Goldfinger because of his fondness for jewellery, claiming referee Brian Symons was worse than a car hijacker because he had robbed millions of people.
Emotions regularly run high in South African football and this understandable if unfortunately worded outburst signalled just how seriously clubs are taking the multimillion-rand knockout competition. The winners of the November 29 final collect R1,1-million, a record prize for a domestic competition in Africa, where most league and cup winners must be satisified with the short-lived joy that success brings.
Even by relatively affluent South African standards, the reward for finishing first is staggering as 1996-1997 Castle Premiership champions Manning Rangers received less than half the amount. Sundowns have home advantage and the psychological advantage that they need not necessarily win to qualify for the decider and a seemingly certain showdown with resurgent Kaizer Chiefs.
The Rothmans Cup is run along similar lines to Pan-African club competitions as ties are staged on a home-and-away basis with away goals and, if stalemate persists, penalty shootouts used to determine victors and vanquished.
So a 0-0 or 1-1 deadlock would see Sundowns through while a 2-2 draw would consign the teams to the nerve-ridden task of placing a white ball on a white spot and then trying to boot it over a white line. While the Brazilians will probably begin as marginal favourites, they were held to 1-1 draws at home in previous rounds by QwaQwa Stars and Amazulu, whose squads lack the strength and depth of the Buccaneers.
Pirates’ major problems are mental and physical exhaustion induced by 25 African and domestic matches in less than four months – a programme designed to test the staying power of professionals, never mind semi-amateurs.
Predicting the result is sufficiently difficult to be avoided at all costs. Rather let it be said that a huge crowd is set to descend on Mabopane for a match that appears to have captured the public imagination. Cup ties rarely live up to pre-match hype, but a survey of the talent on offer suggests there is no reason why the clash of Brazilians and Buccaneers should not produce a memorable struggle for the expected capacity crowd and millions of viewers.
Sundowns alone provide eight past and present Bafana Bafana squad members in John Tlale, Joas Magolego, Isaac Shai, Eric Ramasike, Alex Bapela, Joel Masilela, Augustine Makalakalane and Daniel Mudau. Pirates players who have caught the eye of national coach Clive Barker include Gavin Lane, Willem Jackson, Brandon Silent, Dumisa Ngobe, John Moeti and Jerry Sikhosana.
While it would be a partisan supporter that confidently predicts the outcome at Odi, Chiefs appear about as home and dry as any football club can be, having outplayed Manning Rangers 4-1 at Chatsworth Stadium in Durban.
Those from the city where we are led to believe that the sun never sets will point to a stunning six-goal victory by the Mighty Maulers at Vaal Professionals in the quarter-finals following a home loss. But x-rated goalkeeping contributed heavily to the demise of the Vaal Monsters and while Yugoslav coach Paul Dolezar has yet to win the hearts of many Amakhosi fans, he has developed a combative squad that will certainly not let such a commanding lead slip.