CAPE TOWN - The Mother City has five representatives in the last 32 of the Nedbank Cup, which gets under way this week.
There is no doubt that Stellenbosch FC’s clash with Kaizer Chiefs is the stand-out fixture. Formerly known as Vasco da Gama, the NFD club was relocated to the Cape Winelands and renamed Stellenbosch FC, but if ever the club needed a stage to trumpet their arrival, then a game against Chiefs is certainly it.
The last-32 clash between Stellenbosch and Amakhosi is scheduled for Athlone Stadium on Saturday night (8.15pm kickoff) - and it’s a classic case of David v Goliath. This is the scenario regularly created by the Nedbank Cup, which is based on the FA Cup, and now in its 10th edition, where lower-tier teams have an opportunity to take on illustrious top-flight opponents.
For Stellenbosch, the opposition doesn’t come more illustrious than Chiefs, the most popular football club in the country. Rest assured, the NFD outfit will be primed for this one. Two other Cape NFD clubs are also involved, with FC Cape Town hosting PSL basement side Baroka FC at the NNK Rugby Stadium in Parow on Saturday afternoon (3pm kickoff).
Cape Town All Stars, though, will have to wait until next Wednesday for their fixture, when they are home to in-form Wits at the Athlone Stadium.
The two Cape PSL clubs have been drawn away to face Second Division opponents. Top-flight log leaders Cape Town City are in Mpumalanga on Sunday afternoon to face Acornbush United (3pm kickoff), while Ajax Cape Town head for KwaZulu-Natal to take on Kwadukuza United on Saturday (3pm kickoff).
While, on the surface, the Cape PSL clubs shouldn’t have a problem, fixtures against lower-division opponents invariably comes with its banana peel connotations.