It afflicted Kaizer Chiefs and, for some time this season, it looked as though Mamelodi Sundowns were poised to be struck down as well by what has been called the curse of the top-eight competition.
In a nutshell, the curse is meant to affect mortally the top-eight holders, with the result that they fail to finish among the leading eight teams in the log the following season.
Currently out of the top eight, Sundowns have no intention to fall foul of the curse, according to caretaker coach Trott Moloto — with Wednesday night’s game against Thanda Zulu Royal at Loftus Versfeld set to elevate the defending Premier Soccer League champions either to a position in the top eight or within striking distance.
”It all depends on what happens to Free State Stars against Ajax Cape Town,” said Moloto, ”but whatever the outcome of that game, we’ve gone a long way towards turning the corner and I’m confident we’ll be positioned to defend the top-eight title by the end of the season.”
Moloto’s confidence was enhanced by the silky-smooth victory achieved by Sundowns against Kaizer Chiefs on Sunday despite fielding a squad without several injured players.
”We’ll have the same players available for the Thanda Royal game,” said Moloto, ”but, under the circumstances, I would probably not be making changes in any case — and it’s a comforting situation whereby all the players will have to fight for their places.”
Thanda Royal, in the meantime, are hovering close to the relegation zone and are confronted by a ”curse” of their own — whereby a succession of clubs who have bought their way into the Premier Soccer League, instead of the more conventional means of promotion, have been relegated soon afterwards.
For all this, the KwaZulu-Natal-based club have shown steady improvement after acquiring a host of seasoned players and could cause problems for the Brazilians if they show any signs of complacency after crushing Chiefs. — Sapa