Tinkler, De Sa in MTN8 showdown

Rumour has it Eric Tinkler's job is on the line. File picture: Dumisani Dube

Rumour has it Eric Tinkler's job is on the line. File picture: Dumisani Dube

Published Aug 3, 2015

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Johannesburg – Long-time teammates and rivals Eric Tinkler and Roger De Sa will square up when Orlando Pirates host Ajax Cape Town in their MTN8 match at Orlando Stadium on Tuesday.

Tinkler, coach of Pirates and former assistant coach under De Sa at the Buccanneers and Wits, meet once again in their 30-year-old rivalry.

De Sa now in charge of Ajax, will seek an upset over his former club as the Cape side chase their first victory over Pirates since March 2011. In three games played last season, the Buccaneers twice beat Ajax, 4-0 and 4-1, the other match ending 2-2.

De Sa and Tinkler’s history dates back to the late 1980’s and early 1990’s, when Tinkler played as a midfielder for Wits and De Sa was goalkeeper at Moroka Swallows.

De Sa was full of praise for Tinkler.

“We were teammates, colleagues, and we’ll always be friends,” said De Sa.

“That’s one of the greatest things about this game, the friends you make. He’s such a competitive guy. I’ve played a lot of golf with him, a lot of tennis, cards, darts, and believe you me it’s always tough, he plays to win for sure. If I thought Tinkler wasn’t the right guy, I would never have taken him with me to Pirates.

“You don’t encourage (Pirates chairman) Dr (Irvin) Khoza to take on a guy who is just there to pick up the bibs and the cones. Eric is a fantastic coach, a hard-working guy, he was a fantastic footballer. He is a great man as well. For me he has done everything.”

Tinkler returned the praise for De Sa.

“We first met in the late ’80s, I think 1987, when I was a young boy coming through the ranks at Wits. We were together at Bafana and when I came back to SA in 2005, I played for Wits and I was the player-coach. I was raw as a coach and still young. I wanted to coach with my heart rather than with my head. I got the opportunity to work with Roger and I learnt a lot from him. We have certain similarities in terms of how we approach the game. They (Ajax) like keeping the ball on the deck, which is what we do as well. We will remain friends, no matter what the score is.”

ANA

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