Posted in News on Dec 02, 2007.
This time though Ertugral was not to be denied his fifth cup triumph with Chiefs in his second spell as coach of The Amakhosi, and his sixth overall in Cup Competitions with a South African team both at home and on the African continent.
For a time on Saturday evening the Chiefs coach was left on the sidelines pulling his hair out as a number of his players were a whisker away from ensuring that he did not go any greyer with the drama of the shoot out beckoning. While Kaizer Motaung Junior, Shaun Bartlett and Siphiwe Tshabalala all made the coaches heart beat a little faster as they did not find the target from a few meters out Ertugral was left a smiling man as his team got together and got things wright in the shoot out.
As a result it earned Chiefs another piece of silver ware for the mantle piece, and put the ghosts of the 2006 Telkom Knock Out Cup which had been haunting Muhsin Ertugral to rest.
Plan comes together
The Chiefs coach was not willing to take all the credit for plotting his team’s victory over Sundowns, which was his second over the Brazilians in successive Cup competitions after his ABSA Cup win over them with Ajax in May.
Ertugral complimenting his team for their performance on Saturday evening said “we had a plan and the guys stuck to it that’s what counts, we should definitely have killed the game off well before we had to think about penalty kicks. Nevertheless the team drew strength from their reserve tanks and we kept going at it, credit to Khune for his three saves as well as the other guys for stepping up and taking the kicks. It was a real team effort and every one played his part in helping us win the match”.
Classic opponent
With his fifth domestic cup win in South Africa played in front of a capacity 52 000 strong crowd at Loftus, with Chiefs fans taking up the greater percentage of seats in the crowd Ertugral believe that the fans worked as an extra player for the Amakhosi.
The Chiefs coach has also come out and sung the high notes for Mamelodi Sundowns as he said “had we had played against any other team I do not think the match would have been the spectacle it was. Gordon Ingesund has a team who are strong in all aspect of their game and they really gave us a great challenge they must be credited for coming to Loftus and making us toil for the win”.
Historical Relevance
Victory for Ertugral means that he has now defeated Mamelodi Sundowns for the fourth time in a Cup Final since his first triumph over them in the 1999 – 2000 BOB Save Super Bowl, and it his fifth victory over Sundowns in the last six matches in league and cup competition that he has come up against them as coach of Ajax last season and Chiefs this term.
Further adding to the historical importance of the 2007 – 2008 Telkom Cup Final Ertugral became the second coach in the history of this particular competition under its different names since 1996 to lead two different teams’ to consecutive finals.
After his trip to the 2006 – 2007 Telkom Cup Final with Ajax Cape Town and his return with Chiefs this season, he follows in the footsteps of Paul Dolezar who lead Chiefs to the 1998 – 1999 Rothmans Cup Final and a season later in 1999 – 2000 the Frenchman took Sundowns to the Rothmans Cup Final.
Ertugral roll of honour in South African Domestic Cup Competitions
Kaizer Chiefs
1999 – 2000 BOB Save Super Bowl (Winner)
2001- 2000 COCA Cola Cup (Winner)
2001 – 2002 BP Top Eight (Winner)
2007 – 2008 Telkom Cup (Winner)
Ajax Cape Town
2006 – 2007 ABSA Cup (Winner)
Kaizer Chiefs Roll of Honour in PSL League Cup Since 1996
1997 – 1998 Rothmans Cup Champions
1998 – 1999 Rothmans Cup Champions
2001- 2002 Coca Cola Cup Champions
2003 – 2004 Coca Cola Cup Champions
2004 – 2005 Coca Cola Cup Champions
2007 – 2008 Telkom Knock Out Cup Champions
