Rarely in soccer has one team proved such an obstacle for one coach. No team coached by Gordon Igesund, from Manning Rangers to, recently, Ajax Cape Town, has succeeded in beating Kaizer Chiefs.
At Newlands stadium Igesund will attempt to put behind him his failure to beat the glamour team with a new team (Ajax Cape Town) that has had the better of the Chiefs in the past.
The competition between Ajax and Chiefs began when Ajax thrashed Chiefs 3-0 in a semifinal match of the defunct Rothmans Cup, that ended in the Ajax camp. Since then Chiefs have lost to Ajax in many of their league games, but this season things have gone Chiefs’ way with the team ousting Ajax in the Coca-Cola Cup and beating them 3-0 in their second league match after drawing with them 1-1 in the first leg.Â
The gold and the beautiful (Kaizer Chiefs) will face once-were-urban-warriors (Ajax Cape Town) in an Absa Cup match that has been described as putting the ghost of the past to rest. Igesund said, ‘It is not my main priority to win or lose this cup, but I would like to do well in it.â€
The glamour boys will be looking to send a strong message to their fans that Ajax are not their hoodoo team, while three-time premiership champion coach Igesund will want to beat Chiefs to end his bad luck streak against a team that have come to believe that all cups start at Naturena.
For Ajax Cape Town this game comes at a bad time as they face relegation in the Premier Soccer League and also after one of their heaviest defeats (0-3) last Friday against another relegation-bound team, Black Leopards.
Igesund said, ‘My main priority is to win the remaining league games. It’s no use to win the Absa Cup and get relegated.â€Â The coach said he wished that on Sunday he could field all his best players, but some already have cautions and he, therefore, will not risk losing them for his remaining four league games. The coach
acknowledged that they had put their loss behind them and were looking to give Chiefs a run for their money.
In another Absa Cup match on Saturday Black Leopards will have to forget their relegation woes and concentrate on getting to the next stage of the cup tournament. Hellenic will breathe a sigh of relief at being out of the relegation zone and try and get some silverware. Black Leopards go into this game with a motivation boost after they thrashed Ajax 3-0; while Hellenic will be hoping that the Greek gods are with them in their 90 minutes of need.
Hellenic coach Neil Tovey said, ‘We play better at home than away so we need to win this fixture.â€
He added that anything can happen in a cup competition: they could even reach the semifinals. ‘We will be on top of our game on Saturday,†said Tovey.
The Greek gods beat the Limpopo side 2-0 in their league game at Athlone stadium, revenging their 2-0 loss at the hands of the Leopards in the first leg in Thohoyandou. The Cape side will be hoping to give Black Leopards a 2-0 hiding in the stadium where they last beat them. The Hellenic coach said that the Absa Cup was an opportunity to put aside their league worries and concentrate on getting a good result against the Leopards. In other Absa Cup matches this weekend, Orlando Pirates trek to Thohoyandou on Saturday to play first division side Silver Stars.
With Pirates expecting their midfield hard man Benedict Vilakazi to be back, they will be a hard nut to crack for the first division side, who will be more interested in trying to qualify for the premiership as they are number three in the inland stream log table.
Silver Stars will be no match for league contenders Pirates, who have got the experience in cup tournaments that the Limpopo side lacks.
The Absa Cup will not be only for the big teams. First division teams will also be part of the last eight as they are pitted against each other this weekend. First division inland stream log leaders Bloemfontein Celtic will take on Rygersdal Aces, a team in a lower division, at the Seisa Ramabodu stadium and Celtic are expected to progress to the next stage.Â
Jomo Cosmos will have an easy game against Leicester City in Alabama stadium. Cosmos go into this game determined to pick another cup. On Wednesday Athlone stadium will host the Premier Soccer League champions Santos and relegation-bound African Wanderers. These two teams met early last week and Santos gave Wanderers a 3-0 hiding. If Wanderers lose, they will have to take solace in walking away with R75 000.Â
Santos know the league title is no longer theirs, but they will at least want to replace it with the Absa Cup in their trophy cabinet.
Sundowns have become the first team to book themselves a quarterfinal place in the Absa Cup, after beating rivals Supersport United 2-1 in a thrilling encounter at Loftus stadium.
The Supersport team was exposed for their lack of cup experience and their fatigue for playing week in and week out. The win for Sundowns against Supersport has given their fans reason to dream of at least getting some silverware this season.