CAPE TOWN - The Cape Town derby has been resuscitated and rejuvenated by the arrival of Cape Town City as a PSL club.
Ajax Cape Town and City lock horns in the Mother City derby skirmish at the Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night (8.15pm kickoff) - and, finally, after many years of indifference, there is a buzz of anticipation around a football match between two Cape rivals.
And rivals they are indeed. Bitter rivals, need it be said. The feud between the two owners - City’s John Comitis and Ajax’s Ari Efstathiou - needs no discussion. Enough has been written about it. After selling his shares in Ajax, and then establishing his own PSL club, Comitis won the first round when City beat Ajax 2-1 in September. With the pressure now on Ajax to ensure that they aren’t further usurped by the noisy neighbours from Green Point, the expectation and excitement for this derby is at fever pitch.
The two clubs head into the derby with contrasting moods permeating the two camps. While Ajax are smarting from an embarrassing 5-0 defeat to Wits on Tuesday, City are beaming after dismantling Highlands Park 3-0 to move up to second on the PSL log.
But City aren’t reading all that much into Ajax’s heavy loss. In fact, the result has coach Eric Tinkler treading very cautiously ahead of Saturday’s much-anticipated derby.
“We can’t take this game against Ajax too lightly,” said Tinkler. “The harsh reality is that, in derbies such as these, form goes out of the window. While we may be going into the game with our morale high, and they lost heavily to Wits, we cannot under-estimate the opposition. If we do, we will come unstuck.
“Also, Ajax will be coming into this game highly motivated. They’ll have put the hammering behind them and they’ll see the fixture against us as an opportunity to redeem themselves. Make no mistake, we will have to work very hard to get a result.”
Tinkler has also been very impressed by the improvement Ajax have shown since coach Stanley Menzo assumed the hot seat.
“Under Menzo they started to win games last year,” said Tinkler. “It looked like he had brought back discipline and desire in the squad. The Dutch influence is evident in the way they are playing under Menzo. It’s a possession-based game Sometimes it can be good, but sometimes it can work against you, as they found out against Wits on Tuesday. That result will be a learning curve for Ajax.”
With City still loftily perched on the PSL log, the obvious question to both Tinkler and Comitis was whether they are thinking about winning the title. Needless to say, both refused to be drawn into any such speculation.
“For us, there are no targets, just games,” said Comitis. “Earlier in the week, we focused on Highlands, now we are focused on Saturday’s game against Ajax. After that, we’ll worry about the next one That’s the attitude and the approach. There is no pressure on the players, all they have to do is go out and express themselves.”
As for Tinkler, he simply echoed the words of the boss.
“It’s just game by game,” said the former Bafana Bafana midfielder. “My first target is 31 points, which takes relegation out of the equation. Once we get there, we’ll have a look and re-assess.”
Comitis also used the opportunity to parade the club’s new signings to the media - Mozambican left back Edmilson Dove, striker Letsie Koapeng, midfielder Siyabonga “Chico” Dubula and the latest addition, Zimbabwe international goalkeeper Tatenda Mukuruva.
Edmilson and Koapeng played in the win over Highlands on Tuesday, with both acquitting themselves very well, while Mukuruva comes in as cover for number one Shu-Aib Walters.
“Both Walters and Samora Motloung were recently injured in the same training session, and we realised we had to move quickly to ensure we had keeper cover,” explained Comitis. “Motloung will be out for eight weeks, while Walters recovered to take his place against Highlands.
“But we watched the recent Nations Cup, where Mukuruva was playing for Zimbabwe. When we realised he was a free agent, we immediately made sure we brought him to the club.”
And, just to throw another quick, stinging jab at rivals Ajax, Comitis furthered elaborated on Mukuruva’s signing by saying: “Everybody needs funding to run a football club, but it’s got to be astute funding, not funding at a cost to the team or the cost of the fans enjoying a winning team. Every decision we make is carefully crafted.
“We do make mistakes in signings, but that’s the way the game is. But we are quick to rectify them, and I don’t have to go to six board meetings and call five people from Europe to make one simple change. And that’s why we’re effective, as we can make decisions standing up.”
Ouch! So, let’s bring on the derby