The pre-season Vodacom Challenge, which gets under way this weekend, featuring Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Tottenham Hotspur from England, is always welcome, as it comes at a time when football fans are desperate for some football after the off season.
Support for the tournament is enormous and it does not matter whether the matches are staged in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro, Durban or in Gauteng, the attendance figures are always impressive, which might come down to curiosity — wanting to see the visiting team play.
Yet despite its success and the fact that it seems to play an important role in preparing the two local teams for the rigours of domestic football, one of the co-founders of the tournament, Kaizer Motaung, is not entirely happy about the format of the competition.
When it was introduced in 1999 it was graced by two top African teams — Espérance Sportive de Tunis and ASEC Mimosas Abidjan of Côte d’Ivoire — who played against both Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs, with the winners fighting it out for the prestigious Kudu-horn trophy.
But in recent years the tournament has been tweaked, with an invitation extended to a single European team. Although this has brought global attention to the tournament Motaung feels the organisers should consider reverting to the old format and inviting two teams.
“We should seriously consider bringing not just European teams but also implementing what we used to do when we launched the tournament back in 1999,” Motaung said on the eve of the opening fixture of his team, Chiefs, against Tottenham Hotspur.
“At the moment there are three teams taking part and, despite being hosts, we are disadvantaged by knocking each other to earn the right to play the visiting team, which is a little unfair. But if you have four teams, the finalists have to qualify the normal way,” he said.
“I’m saying maybe we can extend an invitation to an African team, even if a European team has also been invited, and perhaps it could give us that exciting mix in the competition. But, nonetheless, the tournament is relevant because it is a very important pre-season tournament.
“Teams in Europe go to the East, Spain and other countries to play such a tournament. In fact, the English teams go to America now to prepare for the upcoming season, so the Vodacom Challenge is one of those competitions that provides English teams with exactly what we are doing here.”
Chiefs suffered a 4-0 hiding at the hands of Manchester United in 2008 but. In 2009 they nailed Manchester City 1-0. With Pirates, they are taking on a resurgent Tottenham Hotspur that includes South Africans Steven Pienaar and Bongani Khumalo.
Chiefs followers will be interested to see how their team shapes up against the English following a massive raid of the transfer market in the off season, which brought in players such as Tefu Mashamaite, Keegan Ritchie, Brent Lawler and Lehlohonolo Majoro, though Chiefs are still being led by the same technical staff.
Pirates have beefed up their squad with players such as Siyabonga Sangweni and Sameehg Doutie but the spotlight will be focused on newly appointed Brazilian coach, Julio Leal. They will be keen to see how he will knock the Buccaneers into shape and get them to play the type of football club chairperson Irvin Khoza described as the “Pirates way”.
Fixtures
- July 16: Kaizer Chiefs vs Tottenham (Peter Mokaba)
- July 19: Orlando Pirates vs Tottenham (Mbombela)
- July 21: Kaizer Chiefs vs Orlando Pirates (Nelson Mandela Bay)
- July 23: Derby winner vs Tottenham (Coca-Cola Park)