Kaizer Chiefs might be known as the cup kings in local football, but the crown appears to be slipping.
Mamelodi Sundowns have played in more cup-final matches than Chiefs — whom they face on Saturday night in the MTN 8 final in Durban — in the past three years.
Sundowns will take their cup final tally to seven this weekend by playing in the richest knockout contest in the country, with an R8-million purse for the winners, and R800 000 for the losers and rest of the sides.
The Pretoria side are in a commanding position, being the defending champions and having won four of their past six cup finals (the Nedbank Cup, the South African Airways Supa 8 and the Telkom Charity Cup twice).
Chiefs, on the other hand, have won all three of their most recent cup finals, including the Absa Cup, the SAA Supa 8 and the Telkom Knockout Cup.
Going into Saturday’s match, Sundowns have an upper hand over the struggling Chiefs, who have lost three matches recently.
Chiefs started well at the beginning of the competition, beating Santos 4-0 and Moroka Swallows 2-0. Muhsin Ertugral’s players’ running off the ball was brilliant, with strikers Gert Schalkwyk and Jose Torrealba scoring five goals in two matches between them. Ertugral, of course, was singing his team’s praises, but he might have started celebrating too soon.
Chiefs lost 1-0 to Swallows in the second leg of the semifinal, a match where Torrealba was shown a red card. They went on to lose their opening Absa Premiership encounter 2-1 against Thanda Royal Zulu, and then lost 3-2 against Maritzburg United last weekend. Instead of finding a way to solve some problems, Ertugral tends to complain about match officials every time Chiefs lose.
Although his team have lost three consecutive matches, Chiefs captain Jimmy Tau says this hasn’t dampened their morale. ”We are not happy with the way we have started our season. We have to come up with ways of changing things and start winning matches. Saturday will be the beginning. We are just going through a phase, which any team can go through and survive. We are going all-out to win on Saturday.”
If Chiefs want to win, they should work on their defence, an aspect that has been found wanting in previous matches — goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune has conceded several soft goals. Up front they should be boosted by the return of Torrealba, who comes back from a two-match suspension.
As much as Chiefs would like to win on Saturday, Tau says their main focus is the Absa Premiership. ”Our priority is winning the league. But we have to start capitalising on the number of chances that we create during matches, and by doing that we would obviously win matches. We will be boosted by the return of Torrealba.”
Ertugral is not so sanguine and is determined to win the MTN 8 trophy. ”We just have to take our chances, which is something that we didn’t do in the past matches, and that is why we lost.”
But the star-studded Sundowns — who include Benedict Vilakazi, Surprise Moriri, Sibusiso Zuma, Siboniso Gaxa, Michael Manzini and Manqoba Ngwenya — are expected to throw everything at Chiefs after club boss Patrice Motsepe promised them the R8-million prize money if they win the match.
Although Sundowns have recorded significant wins — 1-0 against Free State Stars, 2-1 over SuperSport United in the first leg semifinal of the MTN 8 and a 1-0 victory over Bloemfontein Celtic — they haven’t been playing the entertaining football one would expect from the signings they have in their ranks this season.
”Expectations are very big at Sundowns because of the players that were brought in. But we are working very hard with our technical team and players,” says coach Trott Moloto.
Captain Manzini says his team is feeling confident. ”We don’t want to be labelled favourites for the match. What we need is just good, solid training sessions that will help us to be more prepared on Saturday. Matches between Sundowns and Chiefs are always tense, which is why we just need to do what we are supposed to do ahead of the match. We are confident that we will come out victorious.”
But talk is cheap and both teams will need to raise their games on the day and give the fans something to be excited about after the heartbreak of Bafana Bafana failing to qualify for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations.