Benni is a legend in South African football, says Muhsin
FOOTBALL has the capacity to arouse the deepest of emotions. And, when it’s a derby fixture, you can certainly double the extent of the passion and fervour. This is the essence of a fierce football rivalry – and, in the Mother City, the latest instalment of the derby between Cape Town City and Ajax Cape Town is no different.
The two Cape teams meet in a PSL fixture at Cape Town Stadium tomorrow afternoon (3.30pm kickoff) – and Ajax coach Muhsin Ertugral, who has extensive experience of derbies from his time coaching in Africa and Turkey, believes this Cape rivalry has the potential to be something just as big and special.
As a former coach of both Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, the 58-year-old certainly understands the depth of feeling and emotion attached to a derby game.
“We have to create this derby to a level where it can be respected,” said Ertugral. “A derby has its own way, its own vibe and its own interest. It’s good to have such a rivalry in a city, but it has to be done on a healthy basis. It has to attract people, who want to watch a good, exciting game of football.”
But, while Ertugral realised the importance of tomorrow’s clash, he also stressed that, as far as he was concerned, the match was about a lot more than just the derby.
“I don’t see this game as a derby – for us, it’s more than that,” he said. “I see it as another PSL game that we simply have to win. We need the points, we need to find a way to move the team into a higher log position.”
Ajax have looked a lot better since Ertugral’s arrival – but the Turkish coach said there was still a lot of hard work ahead.
“We have to take things day by day, game by game,” said the Ajax coach.
“At the moment, we are focused on getting the elements together. The small details are important, like which systems we will have, the positional sense of the players, will we use one striker or two, do we want the wing-backs to go up and down, and how do we adjust in various game situations?
“And when we go forward, we have to make sure that we have security system – these are all coaching aspects I have to concentrate on. It’s an ongoing process, but the boys are enjoying it.”
City were formed by purchasing the PSL franchise of Mpumalanga Black Aces in 2016, and the club’s last coach before changing ownership was Ertugral. As such, he knows many of the opposition’s players from his time at Aces.
“I know the opponent well,” said Ertugral. “I have worked with many of them from my time at Aces and I have respect for them as players. They are a quality squad, and they have good characters in the team.
“I think both teams are hungry for this… And when you have two offensive teams such as this, then it is always a positive. I think, from a spectator point of view, it’s going to be a really exciting game.”
Ertugral also had no hesitation in revealing the high regard he has for his City counterpart, Benni McCarthy, as the two teams ticked down the last few days before the much-anticipated Cape derby.
“Benni is a legend in South African football,” said Ertugral.
“The highest a footballer can achieve is to win the World Cup and the second is the Champions League. Benni has won the Champions League and that says it all. I have great respect for him, you cannot buy that type of experience. He is now looking to transform that to the field as a coach, and the players can learn a lot from his knowledge and experience.”
Unfortunately, Ajax won’t have new man Yannick Zakri available as yet. The Ivory Coast attacker has joined the club on a six-month loan deal from Mamelodi Sundowns, but Ertugral said the forward is not yet eligible to play.
“Zakri’s paper work has still to be completed,” said Ertugral. “He won’t be available for the derby or the next game against Free State Stars. Hopefully, he will be ready for the Orlando Pirates clash after that.”