Kaizer Chiefs are back on their perch after a decade-long trophy drought

Saturday’s Nedbank Cup final was earmarked as a battle of Goliath vs Goliath: two titans of South African soccer fighting it out in a duel steeped in history.

Kaizer Chief’s 2-1 win over their archrivals at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban took them to their 14th Cup win (it was renamed the Nedbank Cup in 2008), more than any other side in South African soccer, but more importantly for the yellow half of the country, four more than Orlando Pirates.

Despite their storied past, Yusuf Maart lifting the Nedbank Cup on Saturday was the first time an Amakhosi skipper had held aloft a trophy of any kind in exactly 10 years and one day. On 9 May 2015, it was Tefu Mashamaite who held the Premier Soccer League (PSL) trophy above his head.

Since then, with the exception of the 2016/17 season when the now defunct Bidvest Wits claimed the PSL title, it has been dominated by Mamelodi Sundowns — whose history, while filled with success, is a lot greener. Pirates have been on the periphery of league success and simultaneously been Cup competition specialists during the past few seasons.

Chiefs’ decade-long poor run of form — exemplified by them currently languishing in ninth on the league table — has tipped the scales massively towards the black-and-white side of Soweto.

The two sides met a week ago at Soccer City in a PSL match, which Pirates won 2-1, their second league triumph over their rivals this season.

On Saturday, however, the result and the scoreline were reversed and Chiefs are back on their perch, with silverware aligning with the expectations of arguably the biggest — and most loyal — soccer supporters’ group in the country.

The winning goal, struck by skipper Maart in the 82nd minute with a perfectly timed volley into the bottom left corner, saw the Chiefs fans ignite into optimistic jubilation of breaking their trophy drought.

Nothing, though, could be compared to the scenes for half an hour after the full-time whistle was blown.

A few Chiefs players fell to their knees in relief and others embraced, while Wandile Duba and Gastón Sirino were in tears.

In the stands, the sound of vuvuzelas reverberated without pause. The stadium was a sea of yellow as the Sea Robbers’ supporters streamed out, and dancing, high-fives and celebrations continued in the stands.

Makhehlene Makhaula of Orlando Pirates and Gastón Sirino of Kaizer Chiefs during the Nedbank Cup final at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday. (Photo: Darren Stewart / Gallo Images)

Magnitude

Arsenal legend Ian Wright said recently on The Overlap podcast that the Soweto Derby is among the best derbies in the world.

Such is its magnitude that legendary Chiefs keeper Itumeleng Khune said his nerves would cause him to go through about four rolls of toilet paper the evening before any of the 28 Soweto Derbies he played in.

The spectators and fans supercharge the event.

Fans poured into the Moses Mabhida Stadium from 10am, 5½ hours before the scheduled kickoff. There were road closures, and extra officers and marshals directed the heavy traffic in Stamford Hill, near the stadium.

Many fans threatened to enter the stadium without tickets after the ticket purchasing system malfunctioned.

About 10,000 tickets were sold and then rescinded after the malfunction. Spectators received refunds, but for many this was not enough, and they demanded entry to the event.

“What happened when we opened up for ticket sales is the system crashed because of demand,” said Kensi Nobanda, the group executive for marketing and corporate affairs at Nedbank Group.

“I would apologise to a lot of fans who thought they had got tickets. Because the system crashed, they didn’t [get tickets].

“The only thing I can say is that it is not a great experience for anyone. We can only ever apologise for that. I can’t sit here and make any excuses for that.”

About 41,000 tickets were sold, shy of the usual capacity, as repairs are being carried out at the stadium.

“Any stadium we would have gone to would have been problematic,” said Nobanda. “Everyone probably thinks we should have gone to Soccer City because [the capacity] is massive.”

Last week’s Soweto Derby was sold out at Soccer City, which has a capacity of more than 90,000.

“We had already decided on the stadium before the final, and once we’ve shaken hands with the municipality, that’s our word. We’re not going to walk away from our word simply because these are the teams in the final.

“The capacity of the stadium is the capacity of the stadium.”

Rough around the edges

The match itself often lacked finesse — outside of the wonderfully taken goals — but Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi paid little mind to that.

“A final, you don’t play it, you win it,” said Nabi.

The Moses Mabhida pitch, which broke up minutes into the match, played a role in the quality of proceedings.

Patrick Maswanganyi of Orlando Pirates and Chiefs' Yusuf Maart rise to the occasion. (Photo: Darren Stewart / Gallo Images)

Despite controlling play in the first half, Pirates went into the break tied at 1-1.

They were passive in the second half,  possibly a result of playing against Golden Arrows at the same venue only four days ago.

Their legs looked heavy and they passed the ball around with very little urgency, even during the few minutes of extra time.

Chiefs, on the other hand, seemed fresher — they’d had a longer break, with their last match being the previous Soweto Derby a week before.

The game reaffirmed Chiefs as an opponent worth taking seriously again. DM