It will be an intriguing rehearsal of next week’s Absa Cup semifinal when Premier Soccer League (PSL) champions Mamelodi Sundowns square up to Telkom Knockout Cup champions Silver Stars at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace in Rustenburg on Wednesday night.
And although the Brazilians have wrapped up in style a second successive league title with more than a month of the season remaining, the clash between two of the PSL’s most successful teams could prove to be fascinating.
Currently occupying fourth place on the log, Stars have a game in hand over Moroka Swallows and SuperSport United and could well vault into second place by the end of the season with a victory over the Brazilians.
Sundowns, for their part, will be out to confirm that they remain in a class of their own in the PSL in spite of Egypt’s imperious Al-Ahly last Friday night ending both their dream of African Champions League glory, and their unbeaten sequence of 18 games.
”And all the statistical permutations apart,” says Sundowns coach Gordon Igesund, ”it remains principally a battle of pride in which Stars will be out to end our three-month unbeaten run in the PSL — and we will want to demonstrate the defeat against Al-Ahly in no way alters the reputation and stature we have acquired locally.”
Igesund says that he might rest a number of players in view of the gruelling and unrelenting programme that Sundowns have experienced in the PSL and African competitions — and will continue to face with games in the Premier League, the Absa Cup and also Caf’s Confederation Cup.
One player, however, who seems certain to return to the Brazilians’ line-up is Zimbabwean international midfielder Ezrom Nyandoro, who was suspended for the Champions League game in Cairo — and it will come as a surprise if Igesund does not ultimately start with a line-up that differs little from that which has served Sundowns so well since the start of the year.
Also on Wednesday night, SuperSport United, another challenger for the PSL’s runners-up position, entertain Black Leopards at Loftus and cannot afford to emerge with anything but a victory. — Sapa