Veteran sports anchor Robert Marawa lashed out on and questioned the patriotism of some Premier Soccer League (PSL) clubs on Oct. 13, 2019 for staging dummy matches in an international or FIFA period. At the time, the focus was, as a norm, mainly on national teams. But South African clubs had their own interests elsewhere. This afternoon though, the attention will be on an enthralling Absa Premiership match between number one (1 – Kaizer Chiefs) and two (2 – Mamelodi Sundowns) on the league standings.
The battle of the titans draws close as Sundowns clash with Chiefs in Pretoria.
Two weeks from a friendly encounter in Soweto, Sundowns welcome Chiefs at Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, east of town.
Mamelodi Sundowns have garnered 17 points after seven (7) games and, Kaizer Chiefs are on 19 points after eight (8) games and are positioned on top of the league table. With a game in hand, Sundowns are two (2) points behind Chiefs.
The mesmerizing face-off stakes are the Absa Premiership league points and kick off is at 15:30. Back in August 2018, the corresponding fixture produced a dull 1-1 draw (and Sundowns won 2-1 in the 2nd round, January 2019). Judging by their last two league games, their meets are a low-scoring affair.
Amakhosi had sunk to their lowest depths at that time. Their predicament was plain to see and outcomes predictable. Not anymore. Lately, Chiefs seem to have offloaded the monkey off their backs and their fortunes have changed, thanks to the newly-discovered spark.
The defending league champions [Sundowns] are well aware of this [Amakhosi] revival. Currently, both clubs are in tip-top shape. However, in a fixture of this magnitude in the PSL calendar, current form is a misleading humbinger, if a gauge.
In rip-roaring SA giants duels nothing comes pretty close to the fierce rivalry between the Pretoria side and their cross-town nemesis from Naturena, Johannesburg.
Merely recently in a low-key Shell Helix Challenge Cup, Chiefs walloped Masandawana 4-2 at FNB Stadium. Skeptics opined that Sundowns just pitched to honour the invite. There was nothing much to read in it.
Contrarians praised the resurgent strides Chiefs have been making this season. For this reason, it [the 4-2 result] was not a frivolous but an outstanding win of a rejuvenated big club that had collapsed into a mountain of disappointments from its famous glory cup-winning years gone by. So towering a mountain (of frustrations) the Chiefs faithful could not even find each other.
For the optimists’ part, and indeed for Chiefs’ sake, it was a resounding stroll down FNB park destined to the colourful archives of the club.
The first-11 for Sundowns to enter the field on the Shell Helix day bore testimony. Some regular players like Themba Zwane, Musa Lebusa and Thapelo Morena and others were absent due to a call to fulfill national duty. With them, was Eric Mathoho of Chiefs.
Mind you, the Helix Challenge cup was wedged on a FIFA week schedule. In Bloemfontein Sunday Oct. 13, 2019, the ritual Macufe Cup was on show as well during the same period featuring Bloemfontein Celtic and Chiefs a day after Helix Challenge win.
(Chiefs went bust by 2-0. Eventually, Celtic lifted the cup during this FIFA break. Had Amakhosi won two cups in two back-to-back days, it would have been quite a feat for the club notwithstanding that they were friendly matches.) As logic most often than not dictates, the spectacle shifted away from local football at this juncture.
Robert Marawa, the multi-award winning acclaimed “sportscaster” even questioned the rationale behind arrangements of this sort.
During the SA senior national friendly in Nelson Mandela Challenge Cup, Marawa (@robertmarawa) posted on Twitter or tweeted at 5:04 PM on Sun, Oct 13, 2019 that:
“So all these Club things happening whilst the National Team is playing in a FIFA week, where the priority is National Teams worldwide!!!
SA football officially on autopilot!!!
SA 2-1 Mali FT”
A weighty concern this. Nevertheless, was the Shell Helix Challenge match robust enough for the football observers of note to suss out if the two Gauteng behemoths football clubs felt each other out?
Even so, Kaizer Chiefs must be applauded for ultimately lifting the cup.
A win is a win in sport.
And Amakhosi would claim it as such. To be fair, Chiefs have been doing well both in the league and are still participating in the perennial four-stage Telkom Knockout Cup (TKO). Therefore, in winning the Helix cup, be it as a friendly game or not, they showed consistency.
Behind their climb to the crest of successive victories lately are speedy and skillful Zimbabwean international (and former Sundowns forward) Khama Billiat and bullish Serbian Samir Nirkovic.
Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane recently hinted that Billiat is an ever threatening attacker they helped shape and knows the clubs’ secrets. Both Billiat and Nirkovic are players to watch for Sundowns. Their coach Ernest Middendorp will surely depend on them to upset Masandawana.
What to make of Sundowns conceding four times on the Shell Helix day? Obviously, Masandawana will not wear the vanquished badge by any stretch of imagination. For them, it was an ordinary friendly; and must go down as such.
The 5-0 obliteration of Amazulu in the TKO last Sunday (Oct. 20) make the case all the more compelling that when it comes to the crunch, Sundowns pull out all their cudgels.
As such, danger for Chiefs lurks behind Sundowns’ irresistible midfield duo of the ever dazzling Zwane and nippy Uruguayan international Gastón Sirino who (both) shuffle through any tight bulwark effortlessly. All the potential game-winners mentioned here are subject to availability.
Without reservations, this Sunday both the ostensibly embellished clubs will walk out of the Loftus Versfeld tunnel, side by side in anticipation of a humdinger. Spectators, scribes, viewers, scouts and bookies alike can expect no less.