Sparks should fly as the former Kaizer Chiefs coach and captain turn out for Sundowns this weekend, writes Andrew Muchineripi
The first major match of the 306-fixture Castle Premiership programme arrives on Saturday evening when Kaizer Chiefs host Sundowns at the Johannesburg Stadium. Adding to the normal excitement generated by these traditional rivals, will be the return of Sundowns coach Paul Dolezar and assistant Neil Tovey to the club they left less than one month ago.
Whatever spin doctors like Putco Mafani of Chiefs might say, the departure of the animated Franco-Yugoslav and the former Bafana Bafana captain was not entirely amicable. Indeed, it was quite obvious from recent comments by Amakhosi boss Kaizer Motaung that he will not be inviting Dolezar and Tovey to his home for lunch in the foreseeable future.
Former star Motaung has expressed unhappiness with the tactics used by Dolezar during his two-year tenure at Chiefs, which is surprising given the success the club enjoyed. The Amakhosi won the Rothmans Cup twice, bringing R2-million into the bank balance, finished runners-up twice in the Premiership and reached the Bob Save Super Bowl final once.
Okay, so Chiefs are one of those clubs where second place means failure, but when those with blinkers remove them and accept that domestic soccer is no longer a three- club race, they will surely accept that Dolezar was not a failure.
Tovey parted ways with a club he served loyally for many seasons over the issue of money. He was offered a new contract that did not meet expectations and Sundowns boss Nastasia Tsichlas reacted with the speed of Marion Jones with a better offer.
Perhaps the biggest danger ahead of the fifth-round fixture between teams separated by just one point is that Dolezar and Tovey could overshadow the men who really matter.
Whatever the tactical genius of the men on the bench, the match will ultimately be decided by 22 of the best footballers in the Premiership and this humble member of the Muchineripi clan predicts a capacity 40 000 crowd.
Sundowns enter the game with the only 100% record in the league following victories over newly promoted Classic (3-2), Bush Bucks (2-0) and Ajax Cape Town (1-0). Chiefs defeated AmaZulu (4-1) and Free State Stars (2-1) and drew with Wits University (0-0) and Mother City (1-1) in the continued absence of German-based Turkish coach Muhsin Ertugral, who is waiting for his work permit.
While Sundowns have been impressive without setting the Premiership on fire, inconsistency has dogged Chiefs with a poor performance against Mother City in Cape Town last Sunday, barely deserving a point.
The previous three matches between the clubs produced a couple of 2-0 victories for Chiefs and a 2-1 triumph for Sundowns last year after Thabo Mooki had given the Amakhosi an eighth-minute advantage.
Surprise pacesetters Jomo Cosmos, who lead Sundowns, Free State Stars and Manning Rangers on goal difference, visit Pretoria on Friday evening for a clash with slow starters SuperSport United at Caledonian Stadium.
Much is expected of United this season, despite the loss of top scorer Glen Salmon to Dutch club NAC Breda. His place has been filled by David Notoane of Santos, and former Seven Stars defender Kaitano Tembo is another arrival. Cosmos have scored 11 goals in defeating African Wanderers (3-0), title favourites Orlando Pirates (4-1) and Santos (4-1), with a 1-0 loss at Manning Rangers the only blot on the Ezenkosi copybook.
Olympic Games squad striker Nkosinathi Nhleko has scored six to alleviate fears that the departure of Mozambican goal machine Manuel “Tico Tico” Bucuane to China would trigger a drought. Pirates, who recovered from the shock defeat by Cosmos to hold AmaZulu goalless and wallop Rangers 5-0 despite having Papi Khomane sent off, are playing away to combative Wits University at Milpark Stadium.
The Stanton Fredericks-inspired Clever Boys have performed above expectations to be unbeaten after four matches, although they barely created a clear-cut chance when drawing with AmaZulu last Sunday.
Pirates won the corresponding fixture last season 3-1 after Wits had added a few grey hairs to coach Eddie Lewis by missing not one, but two penalty kicks in a lively encounter.
There is no better place to watch football than the compact Milpark Stadium when the venue is well populated, and Braamfontein is certainly the place to be, come Sunday afternoon.