Soccer City is likely to be a bubbling cauldron of expectation when Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates resume their rivalry in the Soweto derby on Saturday.
There is a real sense within both clubs that this is their year to reclaim the league and that Saturday’s result will serve as a portent of which has better credentials for the title.
The Buccaneers’ public relations officer, Mickey Modisane, attributed his club’s resurgent form — Pirates have beaten both SuperSport United and Ajax Cape Town 3-0 recently — to a more hands-on approach from club chairperson Irvin Khoza this season.
Modisane said Khoza, who also served as Fifa World Cup 2010 local organising committee chairperson, was no longer distracted by those duties and was consequently heavily involved in Pirates’ pre-season planning and transfer activity.
“The chairperson flew personally to Nigeria to sign [striker] Ezenwa Otoruga and he went to Malawi to sign [striker] Chiukepo Msowoya. He was able to sit down with the coach [Ruud Krol] and identify where our weaknesses were and find the right players to complement those we already had,” said Modisane.
He said that part of Pirates’ plan was to bring “winners with the right mentality”, like Daine Klate, a league champion with SuperSport United last season, to the club.
The new acquisitions are bedding down nicely. Msowoya, in spite of needing to work on his control, scored a long-range screamer against Ajax, while Klate has added penetration on the left flank to complement the wing play of Dikgang Mabalane on the right. The behemoth Otoruga, when interested, is a bustling physical handful for any defence.
In spite of being unable to find the net in their 0-0 draw with AmaZulu on Wednesday night in Durban — where Msowoya, in particular, was profligate in front of goal — recent results suggest that Pirates may have found a clinical edge to go with their mesmerising build-up play in midfield.
Crucial midfield battle
For Kaizer Chiefs manager Bobby Motaung, the midfield battle is likely to be crucial to who will emerge victorious — that is if the derby bucks the customary league trend of ending in a draw.
Said Motaung: “Pirates have a dynamic midfield and it will be up to our boys to stop them and then create. Both teams have a quality defence. The team that wins will be the team that will be more creative.”
To provide that creative platform, the ball will have to be won first and bulldogs like Chiefs’ Tinashe Nengomashe and Pirates’ Isaac Chansa will be vital in this regard.
Chiefs were unlucky to lose their unbeaten league record when they went down 1-0 to Santos in a midweek game they dominated on Wednesday.
Motaung suggested that the tactical wiles of Amakhosi’s Serbian coach, Vladimir Vermezovic, would be vital: “[Vermezovic] has adapted to South African football [following his freshman season last year] and the team have adapted to his tactics. We’re seeing the benefits now.”
Vermezovic’s substitutions proved inspired in the team’s 2-0 weekend win over Free State Stars, with Sthembiso Ngcobo coming off the bench to break the deadlock at Rand Stadium, while fellow substitute Mandla Masango was a creative force.
Fans’ expectations are always gargantuan. But with Chiefs last having won the league in the 2004/05 season and their rivals from across the tracks going even further back to the turn of the decade, they have never been greater.