Posted in News on Jul 25, 2007.
Chiefs coach Muhsin Ertugral was joined at a press conference by his Pirates counterpart Bibey Mutombo at lunch time on Wednesday afternoon, a few minutes after the Pirates coach and his players had touched down in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality.
Mutombo was weary-eyed after a late night on Tuesday as his team went down 2-1 to Tottenham Hotspurs in their Vodacom Challenge encounter at Newlands in Cape Town, many of the journalists gathered at the press conference on Wednesday did have one question for the Pirates coach - that was why he turned up at the press conference wearing a black suit with a gold tie. While many have gone to great lengths to find an answer, the two coaches pulled no punches and made it clear that they wanted a go at Tottenham Hotspurs again on Saturday.
Rich Soweto Derby Heritage for Vodacom Challenge
How ironic it is that Chiefs' first Vodacom Challenge triumph in 2000 happened to be under the guidance of Muhsin Ertugral. Even though the competition is now its ninth season, Chiefs and Pirates met each other just twice previously under the previous format of the Vodacom Challenge. The two teams did square up to each other a year ago during the 2006 event and under the current system should meet each other at least once a year in the pre-season showpiece event.
It was seven years ago though that Chiefs and Pirates met for the first time in a Vodacom Challenge game, to be precise it was on the 2nd July 2000, when in front of a capacity crowd in Durban, the game seemed to be headed for a penalty shoot out before Lucky Maselesele popped up and found an 87th minute winner for Chiefs.
The Amakhosi would then successfully defend their title in 2001 and lost out in the final in 2002 and were victorious again in 2003 and made it to the final again in 2004 where they ended up losing to AS Vita on penalties.
Since their inaugural Vodacom Challenge win in 1999, it took Pirates six years to make it to the final again and they exacted revenge on The Amakhosi for the 2000 loss, as they ended up defeating Chiefs in the final in 2005 by two goals to one.
When the tournament changed its format a year ago the organizers came up with the idea of playing a play-off match between the two Soweto clubs, to determine who will challenge the invited guest team in the final. In 2006 it was Chiefs who defeated Pirates and had the honour of playing against Manchester United for a second time. During the 2006 play-off game, Shaun Bartlett got his first goal in a Kaizer Chiefs shirt when he opened the scoring for The Amakhosi with just five minutes of the match having been played. Gert Schalkwyk made sure of the win with a goal in second half and Chiefs went on to defeat Manchester United to win their fourth Vodacom Challenge trophy.
A second bite at Spurs
Chiefs Coach Muhsin Ertugral is on a personal hat-trick as victory over Pirates on Thursday evening will put Chiefs in their seventh Vodacom Challenge final, their fourth under Ertugral which could mean that victory over Spurs on Saturday will hand Chiefs their fifth overall Vodacom Challenge title and Ertugral his third Challenge success.
The Chiefs coach though is not concerned with history and personal success; instead he feels that his team are well prepared for the play-off with Pirates as he said “the guys are really upbeat about the game on Thursday, there is a real belief within the team that they can go out and put in the kind of performance that will see us through to the final”.
After having to cancel an outdoor training session on Monday, the Chiefs coach was pleased with the fact that the team got through a few sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday, and with a further session scheduled for Wednesday evening, the Chiefs coach is has been pleased with his team preparation for the game.
“During pre-season training things waiver. The players are on the road for a few weeks now and you need to give them time and space to get going. I do feel that everyone has responded well and we have made a lot of progress especially over the past couple of days, because we had a good game against tough international opposition which gave us the opportunity to really measure our progress”.
The Chiefs coach is eager to once again have his team out on the field against Spurs, and he believes that a second go at the Premiership team will be beneficial for his team at this stage of pre-season training.
“Firstly we want to win the match against Pirates to have a psychological advantage over them as the season approaches. The next part of the equation is that I feel playing against Spurs a second time is a must for us. Our aim is to get ourselves into top shape for the new season so it is important that we play against a team like Spurs, who are technically proficient in many areas and my players really relish the challenge of playing against big name opposition like Spurs”.
Defensive concern
While the Chiefs coach remains optimistic over all of his team’s chances of making it to Saturday’s final, he has thrown a word of caution around one area of concern which has troubled him since Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Spurs. It is at the centre of defence where he feels Chiefs need to improve their game as he believes The Amakhosi conceded to soft goals against Spurs.
“It was clear to all that we had a problem in the centre of the defence on Saturday. We do have a problem in that we have Siphiwe Mkhonza, Fabian McCarthy and David Obua out with a range of injuries so we have been laid thread bare at the back”.
The coach though does believe that they have found a solution for Thursday’s game and will be looking for a long term solution to lay to rest his central defensive concerns, saying “It is not like us to sit and complain, if you have a problem you need to fix it. So we will improvise for Thursday and Saturday’s game and there after we will be on the look out to find a solution to the central defensive role for the rest of the season and beyond”.
A windy city welcome
Port Elizabeth has definitely lived up to its nickname as the windy city, as Chiefs have experienced first hand with most of The Amakhosi’s training sessions taking place with high and fierce gusts of wind.
Even though the weather has been cold, the 1.3 million residents of Port Elizabeth and the Nelson Mandela Municipality in general, have warmed up to the idea of the two Soweto Giants doing battle in the windy city. The MEC for Sport in the Eastern Cape Nxolo Abraham – Ntqantiso extended a warm welcome to the two teams.
“While the weather might not be playing its part, the people of the Eastern Cape would like to extend a warm welcome to the two teams and regardless of how cold it will be on Thursday evening, the soccer-loving community of the Eastern Cape will be out in full force”.
With over 80% of match tickets having being snapped up by fans as the end of business approached on Wednesday, Chiefs and Pirates will be warmed up by the fact that they will have a full stadium to entertain on Thursday evening.
Fans turning up early to the stadium will receive a free gift from a number of the tournament sponsors and will also be eligible to enter a range of competitions. Kick-off for the game is at 20h15 and fans are urged to purchase their tickets ahead of time as none will be on sale at the Stadium on the day of the game.
Kaizer Chiefs Vs Orlando Pirates in Vodacom Challenge since 2000
2000 Vodacom Challenge Cup Final
ABSA Stadium Durban
Sunday 2nd July
Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Lucky Maselesele 87 min) Orlando Pirates 0
2005 Vodacom Challenge Cup Final
ABSA Stadium Durban
Sunday 24th July
Orlando Pirates 2 (Mbele 38 min, Muape 72 min) Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Radebe 90+3 min)
2006 Vodacom Challenge Play-off match
Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace Rustenburg
Thursday 20th July
Kaizer Chiefs 2 (Bartlett 5 min, Schalkwyk 77 min) Orlando Pirates 0
