Santos eliminated Ajax Cape Town to enter the semifinals of the Coca-Cola Cup
Ntuthuko Maphumulo
It took 90 minutes of regulation play, 29 minutes of extra time and a golden
goal by Jean Marc Ithier on Wednesday to secure Santos a berth in the Coca-Cola Cup semifinal against Kaizer Chiefs this weekend.
Ajax Cape Town protested against the goal but the referee had made his final decision that the ball had passed the goal line and hit the upper part of the net before it was headed out by one of the Ajax players.
Both teams missed a number of scoring chances in the game, with Calvin Marlin having a fine night and saving everything thrown at him by Santos except Ithier’s final effort.
Supporters of both teams in this Cape Town derby were kept at the edge of their seats. Santos coach Gordon Igesund could not believe it when Ithier missed a scoring opportunity to wrap up the game in the 90th minute of regulation time.
Santos join Sundowns, Jomo Cosmos and Kaizer Chiefs in the semi-finals and are now just one great step from competing for the R2-million first prize in the final.
Igesund’s new side could be the dark horses of the final four as this competition has historically favoured the smaller teams. None of the three big teams (Orlando Pirates, Sundowns and Chiefs) has won the cup.
Kaizer Chiefs are the only team in the semifinals to have reached the final of the Coke Cup.
Chiefs go into the match against Santos on a high and brimming with confidence after having qualified for the final of the African Cup Winners’ Cup and receiving a splendid reception from their fans when they arrived home on Wednesday night from Tunisia. A surprise 1-0 victory in Tunis against Club Africain ensured they went through 3-0 on aggregate. They face Inter Clube of Angola in this month’s two-legged final.
Santos proved their cup credentials by winning last season’s Bob Save Super Bowl and will not be intimidated when they meet Chiefs. The losers in the semifinal get R400000.
The other semifinal next week pits Sundowns against Jomo Cosmos. If the great display of goalscoring by Nkosinathi Nhleko against Supersport in the 5-1 quarterfinal victory is anything to go by, supporters should expect a cracker of a game.
Carlo Scott seems to have regained his scoring touch after scoring the goal that saw Sundowns knock Free State Stars out of the competition a few weeks ago.
Sundowns and Cosmos met earlier in the season in the BP Top 8, with Sundowns emerging 2-0 winners. Cosmos boss Jomo Sono faces Ted Dimitru again with Sono hoping to avenge the defeat that cost him R1-million.