Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates don’t really have to hype up Soweto Derbies, as tickets are normally sold out within hours of going on sale.
That is exactly what happened for Saturday’s Telkom Knockout semi-final at Moses Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban (3pm kickoff) as well, as the Amakhosi looked to take revenge after losing the last encounter 2-1 last month.
But nobody seems to have told Bernard Parker, who was a marketer’s dream at this week’s PSL press conference profiling the derby.
Perhaps the former Bafana Bafana striker is being sincere with his words, considering the lack of success for Chiefs in recent years.
“The good thing about this game is that we still feel the pain (of the 2-1 loss to Pirates on October 27) – the memories are still fresh in our mind. We still know how we did on the day.
“In a way, now that we drew them in the semi-final, we have to double our efforts and go in with fire in our eyes when facing them again,” Parker said.
“We are going all-in – we made a commitment. The funny thing about it is that we know what to expect from our opponents, how they play and how they are going to come at us. We took a lot of positives out of the last derby, and this is going to be an interesting one.”
Chiefs coach Giovanni Solinas said that while Chiefs have more victories historically, that will count for nothing against Milutin Sredojevic’s impressive Pirates outfit.
The Amakhosi had a good run of form since their last Soweto Derby, winning two and drawing a third game before the international break.
But this time there’s a cup at stake, and that will be a driving force for the Glamour Boys.
“We all know what the derby means to us. On behalf of the players, the spirit is good, the concentration is very high, and we are looking forward to representing the team.
“We all know what’s at stake, and us as players have made a commitment that we are going all-in this weekend,” Parker said.
Movember
As part of one of the key focuses of the Movember campaign, Bernard Parker discusses mental health and the alarming rate of suicide in men. He also discusses the importance of having good medical cover like @MedshieldSA. https://t.co/m6Bs6YzC7K
— Kaizer Chiefs (@KaizerChiefs) November 23, 2018
“Everyone is aware of how big this game is, and it’s a must-win for us. This is a cup match – the last one was a league match. The history of Kaizer Chiefs, we have the advantage of always getting a cup.
“But for the last three years, we went through a bit of a slump, and it’s now up to us as players to turn things around – how we can get back to our winning ways.”
@ashfakmohamed