Once again Kaizer Chiefs will clash with Ajax Cape Town in a Coca-Cola Cup encounter. The difference this year is that they will be meeting at the quarterfinal stage and Chiefs get to play at home with Ellis Park the host venue.

Looking at statistics and past history the game has the makings of a true humdinger. Fans can expect flair performances by the players while Coca-Cola will enhance the experience off the field.

The sponsors have arranged a road show through the centre of Johannesburg and Soweto. It will start in Parktown at 8.30am ending at Ellis Park at midday. Fans can win tickets to the game as well as Coca-Cola memorabilia.

Celebrities such as Mandoza, TK, Thokollo, Nkanyiso, Miss Soweto, Razia Mduli, and others will be attending the game.

The new Coca-Cola Cup song recently launched will be sung live before the start of the match.

To date the two Coca-Cola backed charities, Hope Worldwide and Starfish, have not benefited from the Goals For Charity programme, so Coca-Cola will be giving select kids a once-in-a-lifetime experience by giving them the opportunity of leading the teams onto the field.

But the real hot action will be on the field as the two mighty giants battle it out for a place in the semifinals. Anyone betting on which team to back will have a hard time deciding. There is no certainty.

The talking point in soccer circles over the past few years has been the fact that teams coached by Gordon Igesund could not win against Kaizer Chiefs. It was something that the three-time league championship winning coach did not like and he was always quick to point out that he had, in fact, beaten the Amakhosi whilst with African Wanderers.

Be that as it may, Chiefs was certainly Igesund's jinx team and even in the years when he comfortably won the league - first with Manning Rangers, then Orlando Pirates and two seasons ago with Santos - victories against Chiefs were not easy to come by.

So when the draw for the quarterfinal of the Coca-Cola Cup produced yet another encounter between these two giants of South Africa soccer, it was easy to understand why this would be considered the pick of the matches.

An added dimension of this match is the fact that everyone in South African soccer knows there is little love lost between the two respective coaches - Igesund and Ted Dumitru - dating back to the time when Dumitru and Sundowns were chasing the very same league title that Igesund then won.

Needless to say, both are perfect professionals and will not let any personal feelings interfere in their task: which is ultimately to win the game for the their respective clubs.

But if all of that is not enough to ensure South African soccer fans that Ellis Park is the place to be come Saturday, then they can also have, as an added bonus the fact that the match is also a repeat of last year's semifinal in Cape Town, which Chiefs won 1-0 through Stanton Frederick's goal. Chiefs went on to lose the final against Cosmos.

Ajax did gain some revenge when they managed to oust the Amakhosi in the round of the last-16 in a subsequent knockout competition, but the defeat in the Coca-Cola Cup still sits deep.

Not surprisingly, Ajax captain Alfred Phiri is keen to see his side avenge that defeat.

"It's a final before the final," Phiri told Ajax fans. "Chiefs beat Santos in controversial fashion and last year they beat us in the semis, which was very unfair. So we have a score to settle with them."

Phiri even went as far as to say that they would also be playing for their city rivals Santos.

"We are ready for them, this time we owe it to ourselves, our fans and Santos, and it does not matter if we play in Johannesburg because we wanted this game against Chiefs so badly and now we've got it. So we are going to win."

The former Turkish-based player said that he is not too concerned about playing in Johannesburg, even though they would have preferred to play in front of their own fans.

"They are lucky we are not playing in Cape Town because I know our supporters would have come out in great numbers, but even in Johannesburg we have good support and we going there to beat them at their home this time."

The former Bafana player said that he is concerned about two things. The first is the possible heat in Gauteng, the second are two of Chiefs' players. "They are a good team and are on form, I am concerned about Sbu Dlamini and the old man, John Moshoeu. Other than that their team is well balanced."

Both teams won their first round encounters 1-0 and both did so in Cape Town. But while Chiefs were - many would say - somewhat lucky to come away with their victory against Santos in the Mother City, Ajax had few problems against Dynamos and could have won by more than the single goal.

There can be little doubt that the two clubs are the in-form clubs in South African soccer at the moment and that alone should make for a thrilling encounter.

The fact that they are both fighting for a place in the semi-finals of the Coca-Cola Cup - the premier knockout competition in South African soccer - is like a cherry on top!