The game that brings the curtain down on the 2014-2015 domestic football season is also the occasion that provides closure for a few individuals in the two participating teams.
When Ajax Cape Town and Mamelodi Sundowns meet in the Nedbank Cup final in Port Elizabeth, it’ll be a bitter-sweet afternoon for Keagan Dolly, Erwin Isaacs and Alje Schut – and, at the same time, it could well be the last local sighting of Khama Billiat and Rivaldo Coetzee.
Dolly bids farewell to Ajax to join up with Sundowns in June. He had already signed a contract with the big-spending Pretoria club in January, but was allowed to stay at Ajax, on loan until the end of the season.
Isaacs comes to the end of a hugely successful five-month loan spell at Ajax – he returns to his employers, Wits, in June. While Ajax are eager to make Isaacs’ move permanent, Wits’ asking price looks set to scare off the Cape club.
Sundowns skipper Schut will definitely be playing his last game for a club he’s grown very fond of. Last season, the giant Dutch defender captained the team to the league title – and, this campaign, they’ve ended runners-up to Kaizer Chiefs and made it to the Cup final.
The Pretoria club is keen to keep Schut, but the player has made up his mind that he wants to return home.
“In the meeting I had with the club, they said they wanted me to stay on,” said the 33-year-old Schut. “But I need to move on… I have to get started on to the next phase of my career, and perhaps do my coaching badges. I want to keep the good memories of my time at Sundowns…”
Ajax’s teenage central defender Coetzee and Sundowns’ tricky winger Billiat are in demand. The Cape club’s big brother, Ajax Amsterdam, are first in the queue, while there has also been interest in the 18-year-old from other clubs, both locally and abroad. Zimbabwean Billiat, who came to prominence at Ajax, has attracted interest from Belgium and France.
Both clubs are eager to hang on to their two star players – but it’s no secret that both Coetzee and Billiat are keen on plying their trade in European big leagues. If the right offer comes along, it will be difficult for Ajax or Sundowns to refuse.
Billiat, who like Dolly made the move from Ajax to Sundowns, believes the winger from Westbury will do well in Pretoria.
“He’s shown what he can do at Ajax, now he has an opportunity for a bigger challenge,” said Billiat about Dolly’s imminent move. “He’s definitely good enough. If he puts in the work, I firmly believe he can succeed at Sundowns.”
Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane is treading cautiously ahead of the Cup final against Ajax – not only because he has respect for the talent in the Cape club’s squad, but also because he and his team are under pressure.
“Sundowns are a big club, that is why you have to win something,” said Mosimane. “While we may have finished second in the league to ensure that we compete in Africa, we failed to retain our league title. It’s always good to give our fans something to smile about, and that is why the Cup final is important.
“Cape clubs are always difficult (Sundowns scraped past Parow’s Vasco da Gama 1-0 in the semi-final), they play with fire and passion, and always make things tough. Ajax have a number of good youngsters and, in Nathan Paulse up front, they have a striker who is always difficult to play against.”
While Mosimane will take his place on the Sundowns bench on Saturday, he will look across and see Ajax coach coach Roger de Sa’s place filled by assistant coach Ian Taylor. De Sa was sent off in the Cape club’s last league game for remarks made to the fourth match official – and the coach will watch the final from the stands.
But Mosimane wasn’t reading too much into that.
“That has no influence on the game,” said the Sundowns coach. “The players are still there, they know what to do, they have the system and the game plan… whether the coach is on the bench or not, it doesn’t matter.” - Cape Argus