CHIEFS REALLY NEED NEDBANK CUP
KAIZER Chiefs have a barrage of scores to settle in the Nedbank Cup, but the good news is that the draw has favoured Amakhosi so far in the competition.
The Naturena side laboured in to a 1-0 victory at the first hurdle against minnows, Tornado FC. Chiefs required extra time to settle the tie against the ABC Motsepe League outfit. But as we all know it doesn’t matter how they come, in the end it is the result that matters the most.
Amakhosi have now been pitted against Magic FC in the last 16 of the competition, with the match scheduled for Sunday. Magic are also campaigning in the Motsepe League in the Western Cape.
Chiefs will fancy themselves to sweep past Magic. It’s no secret that they are in desperate need of this cup. The Amakhosi, meanwhile, will be elated with the fact that their sworn rivals, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns, have already bowed out of this competition.
Chiefs are currently going through a barren run, having not lifted any silverware since 2015.
The last time they captured a winner’s medal was under the tenure of Stuart Baxter. They captured the league title and the MTN8 in his last season with the club.
After Baxter Steve Komphela fired blanks in his three years with the club, and Giovanni Solinas also left the club without winning any trophies. The Italian mentor failed in the semi-finals of the MTN8 with Chiefs succumbing to a 3-2 aggregate defeat to Supersport United. And their woes didn’t end there, they were also sent packing by bitter rivals Pirates in the last four of the Telkom Knockout.
However, right now, having reached two semi-finals already this season, Amakhosi will be looking to go all the way and capture their first silverware in four years.
It’s been a long drought for Chiefs. They have also missed the Nedbank Cup in their trophy cabinet. In fact the last time they lifted South Africa’s version of the FA Cup was back in 2013 against Supersport United at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban. Bernard Parker was on the scoresheet for Chiefs on the day, and Baxter was the coach at that time.
The equation seems pretty straightforward; Chiefs have missed out on the MTN8 and the Telkom Knockout, and they are unlikely to unsettle Bidvest Wits, Pirates and Sundowns in the title race though mathematically it is still possible.
But Amakhosi unfortunately haven’t shown that championship winning ability. They have been far too inconsistent.
Therefore their last hope of notching up silverware this season is the Nedbank Cup, and winning Cup will also present them with an opportunity to compete in the next edition of the Caf Confederation Cup. They failed to reach the group stages of the competition after last season’s poor run of form.
It’s time to step up. The incumbent boss at Amakhosi, Ernst Middendorp, hasn’t won a trophy for more than 10 years in South Africa. He failed to win any silverware during his stints with Maritzburg United, Chippa United, Free State Stars and Bloemfontein Celtic. In fact Middendorp has only won two trophies in South Africa – during his first spell with Chiefs he delivered the SAA Super Eight and the Absa Cup. But that all happened back in 2006.
So, with a team on a four-year barren run and their coach in his 13th year without a trophy it remains to be seen whether Amakhosi are hungry enough to climb the steep hill ahead of them and claim the Nedbank Cup.