Baroka put cup celebrations on ice
Immediate focus falls on tonight’s fixture against Sundowns
Baroka have put the champagne on hold for now after their Telkom Knockout triumph at the weekend.
The Limpopo outfit became the first club from the province to win a trophy in the top flight of SA football, beating Orlando Pirates in a 3-2 penalty shootout in Port Elizabeth.
They had little time to celebrate their historic victory due to their Absa Premiership fixture at Mamelodi Sundowns tonight (Lucas Moripe Stadium, 7.30pm).
Club chairperson Khurishi Mphahlele has revealed that it is business as usual after their shock final win, although they did parade the trophy at their sponsors’ headquarters yesterday.
“It’s business as normal. We are not going to celebrate in the middle of the season,” said Mphahlele. “There is still a long way to go because what if we celebrate and next thing we are relegated?
“We cannot stop now in the middle of the season. We will wait until the end of the season for us to have a proper celebration.”
Mphahlele continued: “Next week Monday we will only have our parade to show our people the trophy.
We still want more. We will go the king and the queen [at Ga-Mphahlele] because they blessed us before we travelled to PE.”
Another club that knows a lot about cutting celebrations short is their opponents, Sundowns.
The former African kings will leave for Egypt after the Baroka game to take on Ahli Benghazi from Libya in the CAF Champions League preliminary round at the weekend.
Due to the war in Libya, the match will take place in Cairo. Sundowns are expected to fly out tomorrow.
Last week, Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane had implied that he wanted the team to leave immediately after the match. Elsewhere tonight, Pirates will be looking to bounce back from the weekend disappointment when they travel to Free State Stars (Goble Park, 7.30pm).
Fixtures (all 7.30pm) Tonight
Polokwane v Highlands, Old Peter Mokaba; FS Stars v Pirates, Goble Park;
CT City v Chippa, Athlone Stadium; Sundowns v Baroka,
Lucas Moripe Stadium
Tomorrow
Bidves Wits v Golden Arrows, Bidvest Stadium;
AmaZulu v Celtic, King Zwelithini Stadium; Maritzburg v Leopards, Harry Gwala; Chiefs v SuperSport, Mbombela Stadium