South African soccer fans will be hoping the Coca-Cola Cup provides scintillating football over the next 12 weeks.
The 16 Premier Soccer League (PSL) clubs participating in the competition fight it out for the R2-million at stake and also a chance to take part in the continental African Cup of Cup Winners (also known as the Mandela Cup).
Last season Jabu Pule burst on to the scene in the Coke Cup, mesmerising both players on the pitch and supporters on the stands. Unfortunately the Kaizer Chiefs player has had personal problems and will not feature in this year’s tournament.
This leaves the stage clear for another player to make his mark on the competition. There are many youngsters at the various clubs who would love to impress and the fans will be hoping a new star is born.
Defending champions Chiefs kick off their defence of their title against Moroka Swallows at the Rand stadium in Saturday’s televised match.
Keeping the cup could be a mammoth task for Chiefs as they have failed to convince in either of their two league matches so far this season.
They lost their opening game to SuperSport United — who put paid to Amakhosi hopes in the league last season — and won against rookies Dynamos.
Chiefs’s strikers will have to get their act together if the club are to mount a realistic defence of the cup, while the midfield needs to be more creative when moving forward.
Swallows will be no pushover, however, with new coach Gavin Hunt eager to appease supporters after his team was thrashed 0-5 by Orlando Pirates in the BPTop 8.
If the Birds want to pull off one of the great upsets of the competition by trouncing Chiefs they will also have to overcome the intimidating presence of the Chiefs supporters.
An hour’s drive away at the HM Pitje stadium in Pretoria on Sunday, Supersport United will be taking their first steps on the road to ful- filling coach Pitso Mosimane’s stated intention of making their first cup final. Their first stumbling block in this dream will be to beat rookies Dynamos.
Mosimane believes his team is mentally stronger, with great individual players, but warned that under-estimating Dynamos could be costly.
His caution is justified as Dynamos have had a solid start to their season. In their five league outings so far they have managed to get two draws, lost once and won twice.
One of those victories was a memorable 5-0 drubbing of Ajax Cape Town in Giyani, Limpopo, that resulted in three-time PSL-winning coach Gordon Igesund immediately putting seven Ajax players on the transfer list.
Also on Sunday, but 700km away in Durban, Golden Arrows play Santos in a repeat of last season’s first-round match that saw the KwaZulu-Natal side lose to the Capetonians.
Arrows have made a bright start to the season and are second in the league after playing five matches.
Santos have begun the defence of their PSL title with two wins followed by a defeat against Sundowns.
That solid league start was bolstered by victory in the Top 8 Cup, securing the club R1-million in the process.
The people’s team caretaker coach Boebie Solomons and the players will have to put out of their minds the ongoing court battle with former coach Igesund if they are to concentrate on winning this weekend’s game against Arrows.
The first casualties of this year’s Coca-Cola Cup were Hellenic, beaten 1-3 by Jomo Cosmos on Wednesday at a cold and slippery Green Point stadium in Cape Town.
The Greek Gods were holding their own until just before half-time when an ill-advised challenge by Gareth Ormshaw on Teboho Mokoena earned the Hellenic keeper a red card.
Cosmos scored from the resultant penalty kick and extended their dominance in the second half.
It was sweet revenge for Cosmos, who lost 2-0 to Hellenic in a league match at the same venue just over two weeks ago.