Striker Robbie Keane and his Tottenham Hotspur teammates will be looking for goals when they take on defending champions Kaizer Chiefs in the opening fixture of this year’s Vodacom Challenge at the Absa Stadium in Durban on Saturday (3.15pm kick-off).
Keane will have mixed memories of his previous trip to South Africa in the colours of Spurs in 2003, having been a part of the team that lost 2-1 to Orlando Pirates in Durban and then netting one of the goals that saw the London side beat Kaizer Chiefs 2-0 in Cape Town three days later.
Defender Anthony Gardner and Keane are the only two players in the Spurs travelling party that toured South Africa four years ago and, with team manager Martin Jol having selected a powerful 25-member playing squad to make the trip to South Africa, local fans are in for a treat.
Keane joins Dimitar Berbatov, Jermaine Defoe and new signing Darren Bent as a formidable strike force that departs for South Africa on Wednesday in preparing to take up the challenge against Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.
Following their fixture against Chiefs in Durban on Saturday, Spurs will travel to Cape Town to face inaugural tournament winners Orlando Pirates at the Newlands Stadium on Tuesday (8.35pm kick-off), while Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs will meet in the Vodacom Challenge Derby at the EPRU Stadium on Thursday July 26 (8.35pm kick-off). The winner of the derby will face Spurs in the finale at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday July 28 (3.15pm kick-off).
Tickets will not be on sale at the stadiums on match day, so tournament organisers have urged soccer fans to avoid disappointment by purchasing their tickets well in advance at Shoprite, Checkers, Checkers-Hyper and Computicket outlets nationwide. — Sapa