Upbeat Brazilians target second Soweto scalp in one week
IT IS not quite the holidays yet. Before South Africans head off in search of a beach to crack open a beer on, there is the small matter of Mamelodi Sundowns versus Orlando Pirates today at Loftus Versfeld to savour in this weekend’s last round of Absa Premiership games before the Christmas break. Santa Claus himself will have reserved a ticket.
After their Caf Confederation Cup final heroics, Pirates players and their coach Eric Tinkler are under pressure to claw their way out of 12th place in the PSL.
Pitso Mosimane’s body language after Wednesday’s 3-1 Telkom Knockout final defeat of Kaizer Chiefs in Durban said it all.
Mosimane became the first South African to win all four trophies, but said a first cup final victory for Downs over Chiefs was the greater personal achievement. The Sundowns head coach can afford to lose today and not break into a sweat.
Downs have gone 10 league and cup matches unbeaten and scored 27 goals. Six different players scored in a 6-1 thrashing of Free State Stars on the way to the Telkom final. Three more — a defender, midfielder and striker — scored once there.
Hlompo Kekana, the grafter and unsung scoring hero of the final, cautioned: “I wouldn’t say we’re running away with anything. It’s only the 12th match and there’s still a lot of football left in this league. We really are enjoying our football.”
The Sundowns juggernaut of years gone by suffered from the bruised egos of benched superstars.
Mosimane established harmony by winning the 2013-14 PSL title. There was a similar keyed-up energy coming off the bench from Teko Modise and Anthony Laffor at Moses Mabhida Stadium midweek.
Comparisons can be made to the Brazilians’ great trophy rivals of the past two seasons, Chiefs under Stuart Baxter. In Baxter’s first season, Chiefs won a league and cup double looking decent, but won nothing the next, then were unstoppable winning another double last season.
Sundowns won the league in Mosimane’s first season, were less convincing with just the Nedbank Cup last season, and look very dangerous right now.
But Pirates have African pedigree and hardness gained from reaching two continental finals in three years. And they have quality of their own.
Burgeoning midfield talent Gift Motupa has had a heady month.
The 21-year-old replaced suspended Thandani Ntshumayelo to start in the 1-0 away defeat in the Confed final against Etoile du Sahel in Sousse (Bucs lost 2-1 on aggregate).
Then he flew to Senegal to play a key role in Owen da Gama’s team’s third-placed finish in the Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations. And Pirates are finally rested.
“We had a great rest, but in this break we’ve worked hard preparing for this game,” Motupa said. “I have seen some change in the players.”