For Kaizer Chiefs, the Coca-Cola Cup final on Saturday night is not just about R2-million, keeping the trophy after (hopefully) winning it for the third time, nor about putting to rest the ghosts of their nemesis, Supersport United. It is about restoring their status as cup kings.
The match in Bloemfontein is about ending a losing streak in finals. This season alone Chiefs have lost in three — the pre-season Vodacom and Telkom challenges and, more recently, the Supa 8.
Supersport United will not be push-overs, as they showed three months ago when they won the Supa 8. In fact, under the reign of coach Pitso Mosimane they are yet to lose to Chiefs.
But the Coke Cup brings out something in the Glamour Boys. Their 4-0 quarterfinal disposal of Dynamos came after a run of indifferent league form. Against Swallows in the semifinal, Chiefs were overrun only to be saved by an unlikely hero, Rowan Fernandez, in the penalty shootout.
Supersport bring an armoury of their own. The M-Net sponsored club may not have a big budget or big-name players, but they have proven to be a team to be reckoned with and alongside Wits and Swallows, they are among the most enterprising and revived sides of the past three seasons.
They managed to give Chiefs one of the biggest surprises in the Premier Soccer League last season, winning 1-0 at Ellis Park and 3-0 at Loftus.
They have risen from relegation candidates to contenders for the title, having twice come within a whisker of lifting the championship and ending third last season. Yet for all their success, they have come so far this season by grit rather than fluidity; resilience rather than flair and initiative.
Two crucial traits that their recent success have added to the team’s character are galvanised self-belief and intrepidity. Wits, their opponents in two successive semifinals, can attest to the fact that, indeed, fortune favours the brave.
Chiefs can trace that bravery to a league match two seasons ago, when they took a 2-0 lead, lost Jabu Pule to a red card and watched Supersport recover to win 3-2 and establish what is now a five-game winning streak against the league champions.
The only way Chiefs can beat Supersport is to revert to psychology. Chiefs should recall that they had the upper hand over Supersport’s predecessors, Pretoria City.
There is no team Chiefs supporters despise more than United. This matters little to Supersport while they hold the upper hand.
Beating the glamour team is no longer a delicacy but a part of Supersport’s staple diet, as David Skosana, the club’s communications manager, said early in the week. ‘Chiefs are our daily cornflakes.â€
On Saturday Chiefs have the players to end this jinx in Scara Ngobese, who always mesmerises the fans on the field, and Tinashe ‘The General†Nengomashe, who controls midfield.
Chiefs also have a couple of seasoned midfield campaigners who can change the game when the going gets tough in Arthur Zwane and John Moshoeu.
Up front, Collins Mbesuma and Kabamba Musasa need to take any chances that come their way.
Mbesuma is a lethal striker who has haunted many goalkeepers in the premiership, scoring nine goals so far. He has also netted two in this cup competition and is in top form after putting two past Black Leopards in Chiefs 3-0 league victory last week.
But he needs to get some change out of his marker, Siboniso Gaxa, who had Mbesuma in his pocket when the two sides met in the Supa 8 final.
Despite their recent league loss to Orlando Pirates, Supersport have the defenders to stop Chiefs in Gaxa and Ricardo Katza. Up front they have a potent attacking trio of veterans Tico Tico Bucuane, Daniel Matsau and Abram Raselemane.
But goalkeepers Calvin Marlin and Fernandez might again have the chance to be the stars if the match goes to penalties.