Francesca Villette
CAPE Town’s two varsity soccer forces are set to go head to head in front of hundreds of fans at the Football Varsity competition tonight.
UCT will take on the University of the Western Cape
.
At 4.30pm, the two teams kick off round seven of the tournament at UCT’s Green Mile – set to be bustling with support from hundreds of screaming fans.
A win for UWC would mean they advanced to the semi-finals, stand-in captain Mxolisi Nxumalo said while UCT captain Gregory Bryer said they were playing for pride.
UCT is last on the Football Varsity log and UWC is sixth. The top six teams will advance to the semi-finals.
Nxumalo, standing in as captain after Cleo Pokpas injured his right knee during an away game at the University of Johannesburg about a month ago, said he was focused on keeping his team mentally fit for tonight’s game.
“Mental fitness is just as important as physical fitness,” Nxumalo said.
During their fourth match against Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University, UWC triumphed in a 2-1 win. Gearing up for their fifth game against the University of Limpopo (UL), Nxumalo said: “We thought the game against UL was supposed to be an easy one, but it turned out not to be. We were overconfident and that led to us drawing against them.”
The teams drew 1-1.
UWC will be putting specific pressure on UCT goalkeeper Bevan Adonis who Nxumalo has noted to be a shot stopper this season.
“Every game is tough and we prepare especially for each one. There will be a lot of emotions at (tonight’s) game – two Cape Town teams going head-to-head. We have to shine,” Nxumalo said.
Bryer said it was pride the Warriors would be playing for tonight. The team has yet to win a game in the tournament, but they plan to show UWC that they are still a force to be reckoned with.
“We are showing signs of improvement with every game. We are playing for pride and don’t plan to make their journey to the semis that easy,” Bryer said, adding that playing on home turf was an invaluable advantage.
“I understand UWC will be busing people in while we have the advantage of having all our supporters right here,” he said.
Bryer said the team had been handing out tickets to students all week.