Saturday, August 28, 2010

It's Chiefs vs Pirates - The MTN-8 Soweto Derby.

The Orlando Pirates vs Kaizer Chiefs is one of the biggest matches on the planet. Given the rivalry of the teams, filling the 94000 seater FNB Stadium is quite an easy task. The fixture is in the same league as the Manchester Derby, London Derby, Rio de Janeiro derby of Flamengo versus Vasco Da Gama, Sao Paulo's Santos versus Sao Paulo and the Barcelona versus Real Madrid matches

While for so many, it makes it better to have this for a final, it usually does not matter whether it is a charity match or a friendly. It is never friendly in terms of quality and desire to dominate the streets of Soweto with the bragging rights until the next meeting. What makes this one hot is that it will be over 2 legs and both legs may be at the giant FNB Stadium to accommodate the legion of supporters from both teams.

The PSL committee will be sitting to decide the match venues. They may take the game to Durban, where they are guaranteed another full house or Cape Town or Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium where they will use the 2010 FIFA World Cup stadia. In other cities, they will get a full-house but with a stronger marketing strategy.  

For the biggest South Africa teams, anywhere is home. They would not care less. These teams only get concerned when they have to take on Bloemfontein Celtics in the Free State. The first match is classified as Pirates' home match while the return match will be hosted by Chiefs.

The MTN 8 semi-final brings new players to the fore. The new-look Buccaneers have Daine Klate who scored the winner in the quarter-finals as well as Mark Mayambela, Clifford Ngobeni and Tlou Segolela. There has been one derby already in the Telkom Charity Cup final in which Chiefs beat Pirates at the FNB Stadium but The Ghosts will be baying for Amakhosi blood as revenge.

The Ajax Cape Town versus Moroka Swallows semi-final will have to live with the fact of its minimal attention. Both teams will cherish the opportunity to engage either giant in the final. That will motivate them enough to give each other a fight for their money. In years gone by, the Soweto giants would sap the energy off each other and grind the smaller teams to submission. Things have changed and victory against either The Uburn Warriors or The Dube Birds is not guaranteed. 

It will be interesting to see especially whether The Buccaneers get their revenge or The Glamour Boys maintain their class. Do you think the Sea Robbers will carry on flattering to deceive without any trophy to show in 10 years or this is their moment?

4 comments:

  1. This time its our lunch of Kaizer Chips and then refry on the second leg.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hahaha, do you think it's time for revenge? I hope so, but I wish to hear from Amakhosi if they agree..

    ReplyDelete
  3. pirates is going to kill amakhosi. krul gv phenyo a chance so tht he can deliver crosses for our strikers.

    ReplyDelete
  4. It will be interesting to see how both teams react to the big day. To be honest, I have not seen much of them and it will be nice to see them on the big stage at the weekend.

    ReplyDelete