The Telkom Knockout quarter-final draw yesterday dished up some fascinating “Mentor v Apprentice” ties that should ensure an eventful last eight matches.
Most fascinating of them all is no doubt the clash between high-riding Mpumalanga Black Aces and Kaizer Chiefs, which pits former Amakhosi coach Muhsin Ertugral, pictured, against Steve Komphela, his former assistant.
And then there is the encounter involving SuperSport United and Golden Arrows that will see Gordon Igesund and Serame Letsoaka, teammates as coach and assistant, respectively, for the last four years, battle it out for a spot in the semi-finals.
The mutual respects between both sets of coaches was evident at the PSL Head Office – Komphela leaving a lot of mouths gaping as he addressed Ertugral in Turkish before giving a translation. “We are playing two matches (back-to-back),” Komphela said of the clubs’ league clash that will come immediately before the cup tie.
“I was just telling him that we must just have an agreement as to which game he wins and which one I win,” he joked.
And having only taken charge of the country’s most popular team at the beginning of this season, Komphela has already picked up that every match is like a cup final and that his is a marked team.
“Everyone we play brings along their A-game because it is Chiefs, so for us we have 30 finals.” It is for this reason that Erutgral is champing at the bit to take on his former team. “Chiefs is always a nice challenge. So, this is a good draw for us,” he said.
Like Komphela, Letsoaka expressed confidence in taking on his former boss because he has him figured out. “I’ve worked with Gordon for four years,” the Golden Arrows coach said. “I was his assistant at the national team and at SuperSport. I know his ways; I’ve stolen his secrets.”
A clearly amused Igesund expressed pleasure at the opportunity to “meet with my colleague” and said he anticipated an evenly contested tie.
The other quarter-final tie pitted Pitso Mosimane’s Mamelodi Sundowns against a rejuvenated Free State Stars, whose new coach Ernst Middendorp was at his sardonic best, using the opportunity to take a swipe at his detractors who labelled him a joureyman that leaves clubs in a worse state than he found them.
“I do not read too much into that,” he responded. “(At) the moment, I am definitely surprised to be here (at the quarter-final stage) because I thought the huge favourite was supposed to be here,” he teased in reference to Wits who Stars knocked out. The last quarter-final will pit the winner of the first round clash between Orlando Pirates and AmaTuks with Maritzburg United. Pirates and Tuks meet on October 16.
The draw:
SuperSport United v Golden Arrows; Free State Stars v Mamelodi Sundowns; Orlando Pirates/Maritzburg United v University of Pretoria/Maritzburg United; Mpumalanga Black Aces v Kaizer Chiefs
Quarter-finals to be played on October 24/25. - The Star