It’s what most South African soccer followers will see as a dream Absa Cup final on May 20 — but there was plenty of drama as Orlando Pirates beat Classic 2-1 at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday afternoon to qualify for a match-up against arch-foes Kaizer Chiefs.
And the shocks and shenanigans began even before the kick-off when Pirates coach Kosta Papic tendered his resignation to honour a promise that if the Buccaneers did not win the Premier Soccer League (PSL) title after being closely in contention for the second successive season, he would ”step down”.
Papic was replaced on the pitch for the semifinal against Classic by assistant coach Tebogo Moloi, while the benignly smiling Croatian occupied a seat in the stands.
After the tense but largely tepid semifinal, Pirates chairperson Irvin Khoza said the club’s executive had still to decide whether to accept Papic’s resignation.
In the interim, he will travel with the team to Sudan for Saturday’s second-leg CAF Champions League game against AlHilal — an encounter that the Buccaneers will approach with a 2-0 lead from the first leg.
Pirates demonstrated little evidence of any coaching shake-up as they opened the score against Classic in the opening minute when opportunist Solomon Mathe took advantage of a disorganised defence.
And the Buccaneers appeared to have a place in the final signed and sealed when bustling former Bloemfontein Celtic striker Collins Chabalala scored his first goal for his new club in the 58th minute following a low cross from the left flank from the deceptive Lelo Mbele.
But Classic had other ideas and, after Bongani Cashibe reduced the deficit in the 61st minute as a hesitant Pirates defence made a hash of playing the off-side trap, the game took on a different guise as the Buccaneers lost their poise and only held on amid obvious jitters.
Classic, deep in the relegation zone, left several key players on the bench as a precaution against accumulating further yellow cards that would keep them out of their crunch, last PSL game against Moroka Swallows.
Despite this, they provided Pirates with a number of uneasy moments in the closing stages and might easily have notched an equaliser. — Sapa