Pirates and Chiefs confident
It would appear that both Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates are high on confidence and both believe they will lift the MTN8 crown and claim the R8 million prize money come the end of Saturday’s final.
The two Soweto Giants are scheduled to lock horns in the MTN8 final at the FNB Stadium on Saturday evening, kick-off at 8pm.
And why shouldn’t the two mainstays of South African football be confident? Both have been in impressive form at the start of the season with the Buccaneers only slip-up a surprising 2-1 loss to Maritzburg United in the league, their only loss in six outings (cup and league competitions).
Chiefs, on the other hand, have probably looked more impressive and are yet to lose an official game this season as they currently top the league with three wins from three games and have made their way to the MTN8 final in relatively easy fashion.
Nonetheless, Pirates’ Thulasizwe Mbuyane believes a win on Saturday would reinforce his club’s status as the best in the country, “We want to win this trophy to cement our place as the top team in South Africa. We respect Chiefs, but we are not afraid of them. When we walk on the field we want to do our best, we will work hard and we will fight to defend our trophy.”
The Buccaneers are the defending Champions, but the last time they met Chiefs in a cup final Pirates came off second best. I’m sure all will remember the 2011 Telkom Knockout final when the Amakhosi stole the show with a magnificent performance that saw them thump the Sea-Robbers 3-0.
Mbuyane certainly has not forgotten about it, “Last time we played them in a final (Telkom KO) they beat us, and because of that we are going into this game with the mindset that we will not let them beat us again. We are confident we can defend our title.”
Going into the final, Josta Dladla is Chiefs’ ‘Man of the moment’ as his fine form has seen him net four goals in five games this season and he says if Pirates want to defend their title they will have to battle for it.
“If they (Pirates) want it, they will have to come out and fight for it. They are not going to get it easy. Still, though, we have to go out there as a team and do our part, and play for each other which I know we can do.
“We are going into this game as underdogs. Pirates have been doing really well, but we just have to go out there and fight for each other,” said the Phefeni glamour Boy.
The thinking behind Dladla classifying his team as the underdogs ahead of this match is the fact that Chiefs have already lost twice to Pirates in preseason (in unofficial matches), losing 1-0 in the Vodacom Challenge and then losing in a penalty shoot-out in the Black Label Carling Cup.
Dladla, though, says they have learnt from those defeats, “It has been two losses out of two. So, obviously we don’t want to go out there and make it three out of three, but we have learnt from the previous mistakes we have made and we believe we can getter the better of Pirates.”
If history is anything to go by many would expect Chiefs to win. Saturday will be the 32nd time the two sides have gone head-to-head in a cup final and the Amakhosi have certainly had the better of the results with 18 victories to Pirates’ seven, with six drawn.
In conclusion, though, the buccaneers coach Julio Leal says statistics count for nothing especially if this is the most important game of your life, “Statistics are not important because they are often wrong. It is the most important game of my life. It’s a classic Soweto Derby and I am sure we will do the maximum and we will succeed.”