The Coca-Cola Cup is expected to provide soccer lovers with scintillating football for the next few weeks. At stake for the 16 premier league clubs participating in the tournament is the R2-million cheque on offer for the winners and a chance to take part in one of the continental cup competitions.
Fans of exuberance on the field will benefit as players with flair are offered inducements by the sponsors to produce those tricky back-heels, shibobos and tsamayas.
While the Coke Cup presents players with an avenue to express individual skills, for many Premier Soccer League (PSL) coaches this is a headache as they often have to choose a different style of play for these games. It boils down to a choice between being consistent with their league strategy and trying to clinch the hottest cup in town.
The first game of this competition takes place on Wednesday night at the Milpark stadium, when Wits University take on Durban’s Manning Rangers.
Before that game, these teams will have to try to collect some points this weekend. Manning Rangers travel to Pretoria to play log leaders Sundowns, who seem to have finally found their rhythm. The expensively assembled Sundowns will be looking to collect maximum points against Rangers. The Clever Boys of Wits are also on the road, playing Black Leopards in Limpopo.
On October 23, Bloemfontein Celtic play Moroka Swallows at the Seisa Ramabodu stadium, which is expected to be packed after Celtic managed to draw with Orlando Pirates on Wednesday.
But Celtic first have to prove themselves against Silver Stars this weekend. Swallows will be happy to play in Bloemfontein as that is where they won their first trophy — the Absa Cup — after a 13-year drought.
On October 24, Coca-Cola Cup champions Kaizer Chiefs kick off their defence against Golden Arrows at the Kings Park rugby stadium in Durban.
This could be a mammoth task for Chiefs as they’ve been unable to defend any of the crowns they picked up last season — culminating in an unconvincing performance as they lost the Supa 8 to Supersport United recently.
The Chiefs strike force will have to get its act together if the side are to overturn this trend, while their midfielders will have to be more creative when moving forward.
Golden Arrows are no one’s pushovers these days. Their coach, Simon Ngomane, will be eager to pull off one of the greatest upsets in the prestigious soccer competition by trouncing Chiefs.
The first hurdle he will have to overcome is the intimidating presence of thousands of Chiefs supporters at what is meant to be an Arrows home game.
In another October 24 cup knockout game, newly crowned Supa 8 champions Supersport United will be looking to add another trophy to their cabinet.
The first stumbling block in this dream will be Bush Bucks — a team that are still wondering about the whereabouts of their coach, Clemens Westerhof.
United are mentally stronger and have great individual players, but they must not fall into the trap of underestimating Bucks, who are going through a spell of bad results.
Supersport coach Pitso Mosimane will be keen to avoid another early exit from this competition.
On the move for the World Cup
Meanwhile, a low-key delegation from world governing body Fifa and the local organising committee were busy this week laying the foundations for the 2010 World Cup.
This is the second visit from a Fifa delegation, who are keen to ensure that South Africa successfully hosts the event.
South African 2010 boss Danny Jordaan said the meetings and presentations by the Fifa delegation concern marketing and television rights for the tournament.
Already Fifa is conducting two public tenders, the first for the broadcasting rights and the second for equipment and sports apparel sponsorship rights for both the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.
Jordaan said that from February the local organising committee would conduct an audit of infrastructure in the cities set to host games. Facilities such as hotels, stadiums and transportation capabilities will be examined.