Instead it will take the form of a press conference at the Oliver Tambo International Airport on Thursday morning, when Chiefs coach Muhsin Ertugral and his counterpart from North London Martin Jol sit side by side and face the media ahead of their teams clash this coming Saturday afternoon in Durban as they kick-off the 2007 Vodacom Challenge.

Chiefs, the defending Vodacom Challenge champions, will be out for their fifth Challenge triumph this year and will pull out all the stops to ensure that they retain the trophy they won a year ago, when the Amakhosi first of all defeated arch rivals Orlando Pirates and then ran home winners in the final with the aide of a penalty shoot out a few days later against current English Premier League Champions Manchester United.

With Chiefs having succumbed one of the preseason trophies in the possession at the weekend when they were unfortunate to be on the wrong end of a 5-4 shoot out to defeat to Black Leopards, Muhsin Ertugral is well aware that the stakes are high and The Amakhosi will not be in the mood to lose their grip on another pre season tournament which they have made their own in recent times.

Previous Encounter

When Chiefs and Spurs walk out into the blazing Durban sun on Saturday afternoon it will not be the first time that the English Premier Leaguers will be playing a game at the ABSA Stadium in Durban, Spurs took on Chiefs close rivals Orlando Pirates at the ground in a South Africa 2010 Bid Match in July 2003 and will not have fond memories of the ABSA Stadium as Pirates embarrassed the Premier league millionaires and ran out 2-1 winners.

A few days after the Pirates game Spurs and Chiefs came face to face at the Newlands Rugby Stadium in Cape Town, Spurs got a lucky break when Bobby Zamora’s cross was deflected into the path of Robbie Keane who was able to find the back of the net and gave Spurs the lead inside the first minute of the game.

Although Chiefs fought back with Jabu Pule and Stanton Fredericks pulling the strings in the centre of the park, Spurs extended their advantage just before half time when Matthew Ethrington struck to double their lead.

Chiefs dominated the second half of the game but for all their creativity and openings The Amakhosi were unable to find a way back into the game and ended up losing the match 2-0.

Relishing the challenge

With more than 365 games under his belt, Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Thabo Mooki has a keen eye focused on Saturday’s game and is hoping to use the game as a yardstick to help him continue his preparations for the upcoming PSL season, which kicks off in August.

A fit Thabo Mooki will lead Chiefs charge on Saturday as Chiefs seek to avenge the 2003 defeat they suffered at the hands of Spurs, “we don’t like to think of it as a revenge bout” added Mooki.

The long serving Chiefs midfielder continued on by saying “ because of the fact that we have once played against them and lost we will be aiming to do better against Spurs this time around”.

Mooki has been pleased with the progress been made by the team during their pre-season training regime and is highly confident that The Amakhosi will give a good account for themselves on Saturday, just as they did in last years’ Vodacom Challenge when they battled Manchester United all the way on the two occasions that they met the Premier League Champions.

Mooki said “We demonstrated last year that we have the players and the capability to face any opponent, we have a very young team whose youthful exuberance will come to the fore and be a big plus factor for us on Saturday. Overall things have been going well during the pre-season we ran off the rust against Leopards over the weekend in my opinion I do feel that come Saturday we will be well prepared for Spurs”.

With the London bases Spurs promising to bring all their stars to South Africa for the Vodacom Challenge, Mooki is looking forward towards dueling with the likes of England international Aaron Lennon and Bulgarian striking sensation Dimitar Berbatov.

Mooki said of his impending battle with the talented Lennon and highly talented Berbatov, “I have personally always enjoyed playing against world renowned players as it helps bring out the best in me. I really admire Lennon and Berbatov and apart from these two guys they have a really strong team.

Saturday’s game is going to be a tough test for us because if you look at the Spurs team you will find that they are strong from the back through midfield right up to attack.

Like we did last year I do feel that we can surprise a lot of people on Saturday and do South African football proud, we need to show the world that our win against Manchester United was not a one off occasion”.

Spurs a good Omen

Tottenham Hotspurs might have won the game the last time the teams met, in the overall context the Spurs game rounded off a tough pre – season campaign which saw Chiefs travel to the Far East in addition to playing against the North Londoners. Once Spurs had departed in 2003 Chiefs got their PSL campaign up and running and were crowned the Champions of South Africa in 2003 – 2004.

With Tottenham Hotspurs visiting our shores Chiefs will be looking to win the Vodacom Challenge for a fifth time just as they did in 2003 and will be aiming for glory on the domestic front once Martin Jol and his team are back in England.

Kaizer Chiefs Results Vs English teams since 1992

1992

Kaizer Chiefs 2 Crystal Palace 3

1993

Kaizer Chiefs 1 Manchester United 1

Kaizer Chiefs 0 Arsenal 1

1994

Kaizer Chiefs 0 Liverpool 0

2004

Kaizer Chiefs 0 Tottenham Hotspurs 2

2006

Vodacom Challenge

Kaizer Chiefs 0 Manchester United 1

Vodacom Challenge Final

Kaizer Chiefs 0 Manchester United 0

Chiefs win on penalties

Kaizer Chiefs head to head Vs English teams since 1992

P

          W        L          D         GF       GA       GD

Kaizer Chiefs    7          1         5          1          3         8          -5