If it is a football dictum that the mark of champions is that they can play badly and still win, then the opposite should apply to the teams that get relegated. They can play well and still lose.
Mamelodi Sundowns, in conquering a valiant Maritzburg United, proved the first point, while their luckless opponents testified to the other.
United are now sure bets for the drop and only false modesty, cloaked in mathematical jargon, prevents Sundowns from calling themselves champions.
They rightly refer to the fact that Orlando Pirates could accumulate the same points as them and, if Bucs scored more goals, they could surpass Sundowns at the gates of victory.
They mention, in the same breath, that the Soweto side, who have never scored more than three goals in any of their 24 league matches this season, would have to win by margins of six without reply for them to emerge the unlikely champions.
Scant mention is made of the fact that Sundowns will not be lying idle as the above happens. They, like Pirates, have four matches to play.
All this should come as bad news for Sundowns’ next opponents, first division side Dynamos, whom they will meet in Phokeng, Rustenburg, on Saturday night.
While Sundowns are mixing it with the likes of Al-Ahly for the right to be called the continent’s best football club, Dynamos lie 10th in the Mvela Golden League. At best, Dynamos will hope that the league champions arrive in the North West town intoxicated by complacency as much as by the champagne that must have been flowing since Wednesday night.
Dynamos probably wish they were Ajax Cape Town, who play Bloemfontein Celtic in the cauldron that is Seisa Ramabodu ground.
Ajax is the only team to have beaten Sundowns twice this season, in the league and in the Telkom Cup. That both victories were achieved in the Downs’ backyard should embolden Ajax to take on Celtic and be among very few clubs who are salivating at the prospect of taking on the champions-elect.
A pity about Celtic is that they have better fans than they have players. The loudness of their fans skilfully hides the fact that Celtic are lying mid-table (eighth) and have achieved very little this season. Still, hope springs eternal in the city of roses that their heroes will one day repay the zeal of their fans with much more than great football at home.
An honest appraisal should spur the Bloemfontein side to do more for their loyal followers. And if Muhsin Ertugral’s young charges are not intimidated by the crowd, the fixture could very well be the tie of the round. Celtic’s last fixture in the competition, against Pirates that ended in a two-all draw before Siwelele won the penalty shootout, remains a contender for match of the tournament.
Speaking of matches of the tournament, the encounter between Silver Stars and Supersport United could very well turn out to be that. But this depends on which Silver Stars team pitches up.
After winning the Telkom Cup last December, Stars went off the boil, only to return to form in the last few fixtures. While they are third on the log, only an idiot would think of them as canon fodder for the Pitso Mosimane-led Matsatsantsa. Coach Owen da Gama has moulded a side high on a chain-gang mentality and indifferent to frills and thrills.
After their cup winner, star striker Hareaipha Marumo, said the winners’ medals had finally convinced the players that winning was not ”for others”. Having tasted victory, they lusted for more.
But, like Marumo, having noted that winning cups was habit-forming, Supersport have the uncanny ability of going all the way in cup games, only to lose when it matters most. With nothing else to play for and prospects of joining Bafana Bafana as a full-time assistant to Carlos Alberto Parreira, expect Mosimane to pull out all the stops to make this a memorable swan song.
The last fixture, to be played on Wednesday, is where Santos should fancy their chances against Benoni Premier United, who should be worried sick about whether they will be playing in the premier division.
Santos coach Roger de Sa has won a few trophies as a player and as a coach. As with Da Gama, he runs an outfit that holds industry as a virtue higher than others. This, coupled with a mixture of solid experience and youthful zeal, should be enough against the East Rand of Gauteng side that must be realising the folly of not adding experience to the obvious talent at their disposal.
Football, regardless of the clichés about the unpredictability of cup games, still tends to favour the richer and better organised at the expense of the gifted and happy-go-lucky. Expect, therefore, the class of Sundowns to prevail and the shortcomings of Benoni to show. As for the rest, the ball is indeed round and it could roll for anyone.