Season appetiser for Chiefs, Downs fans
Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns will both be looking to wrestle away the firm grip SuperSport United have had on the Absa Premiership over the past three seasons when the new campaign kicks off later this month.
The two clubs will have the opportunity to send out a warning signal to the defending league champions and rest of the PSL when they clash in the second semifinal of the 2010 Telkom Charity Cup on Saturday at noon. The game will be screened live on SuperSport Channel 204.
After a four year absence from Soccer City, the Telkom Charity Cup makes an emotional return to the famous arena. It maybe a good omen for these two teams: with the event being staged outside of Johannesburg since 2007, neither had been able to win the Charity Cup.
Chiefs have not lifted the Charity Cup since 2003. Their Serbian mentor Vladimir Vermezovic is going to us the one day spectacular to field as many of his players as possible.
“We will use two different teams. Hopefully we are able to beat Sundowns in the first game. We will divide the players up and use a different team in the final,” explained Vermezovic.
Given his plans to field two different teams, it is likely that Chiefs fans will get to see their club’s off-season signing and recent Bafana Bafana call up Sthembiso Ngcobo in action. Vermezovic will, in addition, field his trio of players who were involved in the World Cup with Bafana Bafana.
“Siphiwe Tshabalala will play against Sundowns,” said Vermezovic, who will be looking to dictate the play against the Brazilians by playing to his team’s strengths, saying of this, “We have to play with our weapons. Set pieces are not one of them because we do not have height in our team; our strength is possession football.”
Sundowns, in the meantime, will also be looking to end their recent Charity Cup drought by progressing to the final. There has been much off-season activity going on at Chloorkop, with a new coach at the helm as well as some new additions to the team.
One of the old hands at the club, Brian Baloyi, who has won the charity cup five times – thrice with Kaizer Chiefs and on two occasions with Sundowns – is looking forward to winning the competition for a sixth time which will see him move above Marks Maponyane, as they currently share the record for the most Charity Cup wins.
“I am most definitely looking forward to this season’s Charity Cup and hopefully I can break Mark’s record and make history in South Africa by winning it for the sixth time. You can say the competition has gone back home with us returning to Soccer City and I am looking forward to playing in this lovely stadium,” divulged Baloyi.
The Sundowns net minder will face Chiefs in the semifinal, a team he previously represented in 347 matches. It was his heroics in the 2003 Charity Cup final which allowed Chiefs to defeat his present club Sundowns and lift the trophy.
In 2004 he proved to be the match winner the first time he represented Sundowns in the competition when they ironically beat Chiefs in the final as Baloyi made a crucial penalty save.
This weekend the Charity Cup battle between ‘Spiderman’, as Baloyi is affectionately known, and his former employers will be renewed. “Facing Chiefs is always a special occasion for me, the Telkom Charity Cup is a good platform for teams to showcase their new signings.
“It also gives the coach the chance to see how far prepared his team are for the new season, playing Chiefs in a competitive game is always good for the team’s preparation.”
The last time Chiefs and Sundowns squared off in the Telkom Charity Cup was at the semifinal stage of the 2008 event. The game ended 1-1 after 90 minutes and it was Chiefs who ran out the winners via a penalty shootout in Mafikeng.