This is perhaps the right time to be playing the Brazilians, says Benni
IT’S gearing up to be a big weekend for football in the Mother City as two local teams take their place in the quarter-finals of the Nedbank Cup – and, not just that, both Ubuntu Cape Town and Cape Town City have been drawn at home.
NFD side Ubuntu are first up. After a fantastic run in the competition, in which they have already eliminated two PSL clubs in Polokwane City and AmaZulu, the Cape giant-killers now have another top-flight opponent to negotiate. Ubuntu host Free State Stars at Athlone Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Then, on Sunday, it’s the game that has captured the imagination of football followers when Cape Town City tackle Mamelodi Sundowns at Cape Town Stadium. The two teams have developed a really tasty rivalry; after City’s initial superiority when they defeated the top-class Pretoria club on three occasions, Sundowns finally managed to get one over the Capetonians last month.
City coach Benni McCarthy is looking forward to the match. He’s not too concerned about the quality of his opponents, he’s just happy that City are playing at home. In any case, he feels that, with the Brazilians gunning for the PSL title and on another Caf Champions League campaign, they may just be a little distracted.
The Cape side recently crashed out of the Confederation Cup and they see this competition as a chance to finish the season with silverware. “While this is an opportunity for us to redeem ourselves after the Caf defeat, we are up against a formidable opponent,” said McCarthy. “But this is perhaps the right time to be playing Sundowns – they are focused on the Champions League and Orlando Pirates are breathing down their necks in the race for the PSL title.”
With McCarthy having already tasted a final in his debut season as a coach, after steering City to the MTN8 finale in October last year (they lost to SuperSport United), he is keen to go all the way again.
“For us, the Sundowns game is huge. It’s an unbelievable opportunity. We are two games away now from being in a final, another final‚” said the former Bafana Bafana striker.