All the talk before Monday’s Nedbank Cup draw centred on a potential final between Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns — with the gnawing proviso, of course, that the Premier Soccer League (PSL) glamour clubs were not pitted against each other in the last-16 round.
But the improbable did occur, amid gasps of amazement and disbelief, at the Melrose Arch draw venue in Johannesburg, with those present trying to calculate the sizeable odds against Sundowns and Chiefs being paired together after many of the other top contenders had already bitten the dust in the first round proper.
The last-16 round of the Nedbank Cup will be played, in the main, over the weekend of March 29 and 30.
Despite their stature in South African soccer, defending PSL champions Sundowns and Chiefs are currently lingering in the bottom half of the Premiership table, with both clubs relying heavily on success in the Nedbank Cup with its R6-million winners’ prize to gain some redemption for disappointments in the current season.
”Well, there you have it,” said MC Lunga Williams after the draw. ”You can’t claim the PSL don’t give you journalists something to write about.”
Another potentially intriguing game in a last-16 round that contains as many clubs from the lower ranks as those from the PSL is that between Moroka Swallows and Santos — if the Birds defy the trend and account for minnows the African Warriors in a postponed first-round fixture.
And, as though taking a leaf out of the book of the English FA Cup and its spate of recent surprises, at least two teams from the lower divisions are assured of places in the Nedbank Cup quarterfinals — with MP Black Aces drawn against FC AK and FC Cape Town playing Winners Park.
Nedbank divisional marketing director Greg Garden, at the same time, announced an initiative presumably based on the famed Masters golf tournament. All recipients of ”player of the match” awards in Nedbank Cup fixtures will in future receive a green jacket in addition to the R5 000 prize. — Sapa
Last-16 fixtures
Home teams mentioned first; venues and exact dates to be announced by the PSL later in the week
Free State Stars vs Ikapa Sporting FC
Kaizer Chiefs vs Mamelodi Sundowns
Vasco da Gama vs Amazulu
MP Black Aces v FC AK
African Warriors or Moroka Swallows vs Santos
FC Cape Town vs Winners Park
Jomo Cosmos vs Nathui Lions
Inspection or Black Leopards vs Matatiele Professionals