For David Mathebula it was really a case of he came, he saw, he conquered when The Amakhosi last faced SuperSport United, in a cup game which was a 2006 ABSA Cup round of 32 game in March at the FNB Stadium.

Mathebula entered the game as a second half substitute and scored one goal and created two more for Louis Agyemang, as Chiefs rolled SuperSport out of the competition of which they were the defending champions. On Saturday The Amakhosi will face SuperSport United, once again in a cup final which will only help to renew the rivalry between the two teams. Mathebula, who has recently recovered from a knee injury, is confident that he can display the same kind of form that he did when Chiefs defeated SuperSport in March.

KC.COM: David you have just returned from a knee injury which meant that you had to sit out Chiefs' crucial league game against Mamelodi Sundowns. Do you feel fit enough as the SAA Supa8 Final approaches?


David Mathebula: It was sad for me on a personal level to have missed the game against Sundowns; my injury really did not come at a good time as we lost a number of key players ahead of the game. Added to that was the fact that David Obua could not get back on time because he could not get a flight back to South Africa in time.

I do think that it was an injury we could have done without. I used last week to get back into the rhythm of training and this week I have gone through training uninterrupted without any problems. I am sure that, should I be given an opportunity to play in the final, I will be able to do so without any problems. And I am waiting for Saturday to come with abated breath.

KC.COM: Back to the business of facing SuperSport on Saturday, there is no hiding the fact that you really tormented them in the ABSA Cup earlier this year. Can we expect much of the same from you this time around?


DM: If we must talk about the March game, I must say that when the coach brought myself and Gert Schalkwyk on at half time, he thought that we could turn the course of the game and thankfully we were able to do that. The instructions we were given when we came on at halftime in the ABSA Cup game, was to go out an get a win for the team - I was just following instructions. For any footballer it is always self-rewarding to be able to go into a game as a substitute and help your team win it. If I am able to do the same on Saturday in the SAA Supa8 Final, I will be the happiest man in the world.

KC.COM: Do you feel that having already got the better of SuperSport in a Cup game once this year already, Chiefs have an edge over them?


DM: In a way, yes and no, because what happened in the ABSA Cup is over, this Saturday we play them in the SAA Supa8 Final. We have made some additions to our team and so have they. Saturday is a whole new chapter in the history between us and SuperSport. We have to think about what is in front of us and forget about the past, if we dwell too much on history then I don’t think that we would have been able to have defeated them in the 2004 Coca Cola Cup Final or in the ABSA Cup game.

For the simple reason that they held the historical advantage over us in terms of Cup games won, what the ABSA Cup win does show is that we do have the beating of them and we need to take the positives from that game forward with us.

KC.COM: At the 2004 SAA Supa8 Final between Chiefs and SuperSport, you watched from the bench as your team lost the game in unfortunate circumstances. Are you ready, if given the chance on Saturday, to play a big hand this time around in avenging that defeat?


DM: Watching my team mates go down two years ago in the final was very hard for one simple reason and that was that we played really well in that game and perhaps one could say the result was not fair on us. The game of soccer is such that there can be times when, on the day, you get everything right and still lose a game. All I can say is that I know, and the coach is also aware of what I am capable of and I need to be ready to stand up to the challenges that will arise from facing a quality opponent like SuperSport in a major cup final.

As much as we might side-step the issue, losing to SuperSport in the 2004 SAA Supa8 Final was painful. We have grown from that defeat and we know and do believe that we can win the game on Saturday.