While the celebrations went on until the sun rose on Sunday morning, and Chiefs fans from around the country happily made their way home as The Amakhosi lifted their tenth domestic cup title since 1996. All the talk would have been about their dramatic victory over Mamelodi Sundowns. As one would expect from a cup final the match possessed all the talking points, missed chances and the like that a game of this magnitude would produce, there was though one point of discussion that took the pre match headlines and that was the fact that Chiefs coach Muhsin Ertugral had opted to start the game with Derrick Spencer, a player who had not spent a minute on the field of play up to that point.

Playing Spencer in a defensive role proved to be a masterstroke by Ertugral as the boy from Kwa-Zulu Natal got the acclaim he deserved and won the man of the match award which ensured that for the fourth consecutive game in the 2007 Telkom Cup a Chiefs player was rated by the media as the best man on the park.

Spencer may have collected the cheque at the end of the final, but what of the previous rounds of the tournament who were the outstanding performers for Chiefs overall in the competition, which players could be in the running for the Most valuable player of the tournament award and the R200 000 that will follow in tow.

Final Heroics

As those in the decision making roles decide on the players who will be awarded for their individual performances in the 2007 Telkom Knock Out Cup, one man who most definitely felt that he would have been happy to have just collected a medal prior to the final was Derrick Spencer. Instead on Cup Final day he was thrown in and did a sterling job as he explains, “before the game the coach told me do not do anything special, stick to your job do what you have been instructed to, and I did that and got stuck in from the beginning and was rewarded for that”.

Has he though done enough to perhaps sneak in and win the player of the tournament prize, “being the tournament MVP has not even crossed my mind right now, the thing is that I played just one game and there are other guys in the team who have been there through all the rounds of the competition and have put their hearts into helping the team win. I would think that one of them probably deserves to win this prize instead, it would be more fitting for them then if I won the prize money”.

Contender supreme

During Chiefs quarterfinal win in the Telkom Cup over SuperSport United Siphiwe Tshabalala got the only goal of the game and won the man of the match accolade, he also came close to winning the prize in Chiefs opening game of the Cup against Moroka Swallows. That was up until the shoot out when Itumeleng Khune won the day for Chiefs with his multiple saves; Tshabalala though through out the Telkom Cup has been just what the sponsors have outlined that the player walking away with the top prize be. He has been brilliant, creative and most definitely a valuable member of the team in that he has in all of the matches been able to come up with a number of sublime moves which have helped Chiefs be lethal in the final third. Chances are should he miss out on the over all prize as player of the tournament he is though in a strong position to win the midfielder of the tournament award which in itself comes with a R100 000 financial reward.

Best of the rest

For the rest of the prizes up for grabs Chiefs shining star through out Itumeleng Khune will also be in the running for the tournament MVP, in addition he has been short listed along with Brian Baloyi of Sundowns and Kennedy Mweene of Free State Stars as one of the goalkeepers of the tournament.

Tinashe Nengomasha could well challenge Siphiwe Tshabalala for the right to be named midfielder of the tournament, the general has been well disciplined in midfield and in the final three games of the cup made sure Chiefs conceded no goals. When it comes to the defender of the tournament Fabian McCarthy, Jimmy Tau and Mokete Tsotetsi could all be in the running, Tau faced stiff competition for a place in the starting eleven when Jonathan Quartey was around and in all of that stood firm and showed his versatility. Has come through this tournament with distinction showing that he is just as good in attack as he is in defence, his ability to get the ball from the wing to the front men added an extra dimension to his play.

Telkom Cup Prize Categories

1. Goalkeeper of the tournament R 100 000


2. Midfielder of the tournament R 100 000


3. Defender of the tournament R100 000


4. Player of the tournament R 200 000

Two other prize categories on offer were

Top Goal Scorer of the tournament R100 000, player had to score a minimum of five goals Lerato Chabangu had four

Hat trick in the Final R100 000