Tshwane Derby: when friends become foes

Published Dec 13, 2014

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Johannesburg - There will be battles within a battle when Mamelodi Sundowns and University of Pretoria face-off in the Tshwane Derby at the Tuks Stadium on Saturday.

Some players will be out to prove something to their former team and some personal rivalries will be doing the rounds between friends and countrymen.

Among the many battles at Hatfield, one will involve Zimbabwean internationals Khama Billiat, Cuthbert Malajila, Partson Jaure and Washington Arubi.

Billiat and Malajila will lead the Brazilians’ attack while Jaure and Arubi will be manning Tuks rearguard.

The quartet are usually in unison fighting for the Warriors but they will be looked upon to help their teams in this intriguing encounter.

Billiat and Malajila have been impressive, so their international teammate and centreback Jaure will have a tough time containing them.

Tuks goalkeeper Arubi is also gearing up to thwart a number of missiles the duo will be directing his way.

Arubi says when they are on national duty, Billiat and Malajila often talk about the prospect of facing and scoring against him. In the same fixture last season, Billiat and Malajila each put one past their country’s No1 in a 3-1 win over Tuks at the same venue.

This time, though, Arubi will hate to concede.

“It’s nice to come up against them. They like to score against me. We talk about it when we’re on national duty. I see they have been scoring but I have to stop them today,” said Arubi.

This season, Sundowns appear not to be as dominant as they were towards the end of last season. However, despite their inconsistencies, they remain a force to be reckoned with and Arubi and his teammates have to be at the best to have even a glimmer of hope of defeating the Brazilians - a side that they have not beaten since their promotion into the elite league.

The Tuks ’keeper says it’s about time they ended Downs’ dominance over them.

“It’s a very big challenge.

“It’s the Tshwane Derby. We respect Sundowns. It’s going to be a tough but we have to win. We have to have confidence. We mustn’t change anything because we are playing Sundowns. Our plan has to stay the same and we have to collect the points. I am bothered by the fact that we haven’t won against Sundowns and we have to change that. I am confident we will win,” said the former Dynamos FC goalminder.

For Sundowns, the clash is more than just overcoming Tuks. Pitso Mosimane’s men are in a race to play catch up with log leaders Kaizer Chiefs, whom they trail by 13 points. Tuks, who are fourth from the bottom with 14 points, also want to move away from the relegation zone.

With both sides gunning for a win, this Tshwane Derby could be as exciting as the recent one when Sundowns beat SuperSport United 3-1.

“It’ll be an open game. Like us, they’ve dropped points. The hungrier team is the one that will win the game.

“I am not worried about the log. We have to win our last three games (before the league goes into the festive period and African Cup of Nations extended recess) and if we get the nine points, I will be happy because it’ll be tough in the second round,” said the 29-year-old.

In the last two matches at home, Tuks have managed to get a win and a draw.

Arubi says they have to continue picking up points after their false start. “We started badly this season but now we have started picking points. In our last two matches at home we collected four points.

“It’s important that we collect more points today,” said the man who has 13 caps for Zimbabwe.

Saturday Star

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