It’s the biggest game in the country and one of the biggest
on the continent.
Orlando Pirates versus Kaizer Chiefs brings South Africa to a standstill, and most certainly
Soweto, where
the FNB Stadium will be jam-packed for Saturday’s Absa Premiership clash
between the two giants of local football.
Both teams come off victories in the Telkom Knockout at the
weekend, with the Buccaneers having an easier passage to the quarter-finals
after beating Chippa United 1-0 on Saturday night.
Chiefs had to go through extra time and a penalty shoot-out
to see off Black Leopards 4-2 after it ended 1-1 following 120 minutes of
action.
But now it’s all about the big showdown this weekend, and
Pirates coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic says his players will know what’s at
stake.
“We need to establish consistency, especially in a club of
this magnitude. You win, normal. You draw, question mark. You lose, revolution…
“So, living under that, we are looking to take all the pressure and stress and
tensions to us as coaches, and let the players unlock their legs and express
themselves,” the Serbian said at the post-match press conference.
Sredojevic was not entirely happy with the performance
Pirates dished out against Chippa, though – Vincent Pule having grabbed the
winner on the hour-mark at Orlando Stadium.
“We don’t want to hide behind the fact that we have been on
the Fifa break, or that half of our mind was focused on next Saturday against
Kaizer Chiefs,” the coach said.
“Everybody knows what the derby means, and to keep a
clean-sheet in the week before is good. But in the same moment, we cannot be
blind to what happened on the field.
“We walked a very tight rope, but I want to give credit to
our players (for winning).
“We managed to score the goal (to win), where usually we are
dropping down in the second half.
“Everything was so tight against a good, organised team in
Chippa United.
“If we do not look critically and keep ourselves blind, and
think everything was perfect, then we can hit the wall in front of 90 000-plus
people next Saturday.
“We have one week, and there is no better motivation than
winning, and still having things to work on.”
@ashfakmohamed