Kaizer Chiefs are aiming to win their fourth trophy this weekend and we’re not halfway through the season yet
Ntuthuko Maphumulo
There’s never been a better time to be a Kaizer Chiefs supporter. The newly crowned Coca-Cola Cup champions seek a clean sweep of all the trophies on offer this season, with their next target being the continental Cup Winners’ Cup.
They go into the second leg of the final against Inter-Club of Angola at Ellis Park on Saturday with an invaluable away goal scored in the draw in Luanda two weeks ago.
It would be apposite if Chiefs could win this year, the 27th edition of the competition also known as the Mandela Cup, as former South African president Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in prison. No South African club has yet won the cup. The original trophy, the Abdelaziz Mostafa Cup, was awarded permanently to Al Ahly of Egypt after their third consecutive win in 1986.
Chiefs’ season of success began when they won the Vodacom Challenge against Asante Kotoko of Ghana. That was followed by victory in the BP Top 8 and last weekend’s thrashing of Jomo Cosmos in the Coke Cup final.
It has taken coach Muhsin Ertugral three years to build a formidable squad at the team’s Naturena base, but even a full house of cups is unlikely to completely satisfy chairman Kaizer Motaung and the club’s demanding supporters. The main target for the season remains the Premier Soccer League title that has eluded them for the past nine years a fact made more galling by the fact that arch-rivals Orlando Pirates won the league last year.
Chiefs’ progress to the final of the Mandela Cup is even more impressive as some influential players such as Kenny Niemach, Shaun Permall and Josias Macamo were signed after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) registration deadline and were thus ineligible for the competition. Injuries and suspensions robbed Chiefs of further players meaning they played several games with a threadbare squad. In the first leg of the final, for example, Amakhosi could round up just 15 fit and eligible players for the trip to Luanda.
The South Africans must beware of complacency, or believing they just have to show up to win the cup. Inter-Club are dangerous on set pieces and play a physical game. They are expected to come out with guns blazing at Ellis Park. Chiefs’ style and sophistication roared on by home support should be too much for the Angolans, though, with the likes of Jabu Pule, Arthur Zwane and Thabo Mooki likely to be pulling all the strings.
Much of Chiefs’s renaissance this season seems to be linked to midfielder Pule’s return to form. The 21-year-old who is also a father has had his fair share of problems on and off the field of play, just like Chiefs. The youngster, nicknamed “Shuffle”, came through the Chiefs youth system and was instrumental in getting the South African under-23 team to the Olympics in Sydney. He was rewarded with a call-up to the fullllll Bafana Bafana team for the match against Lesotho last year and dazzled on debut.
But things went awry as last season progressed and Pule’s star faded. He seems to have rediscovered his sparkle this season, however, and has contributed a lot to the success of the team in the continental tournament. He scored a goal in the second round against Sunshine SC of Seychelles and has also provided countless opportunities for his team-mates to score.
He is pressing for a recall to the Bafana squad and gives Carlos Queiroz much food for thought as the national coach contemplates his squads for the African Cup of Nations and World Cup next year.
Kaizer Chiefs supporters have been coming in droves to watch their team play as the trophies stack up at Naturena. Everyone wants to be associated with a winner, and the sponsors have also been queuing up to join the Chiefs bandwagon.