The Soweto soccer giants finally have something to smile about again.
Strange as it may seem, it has been 11 long years since Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs have won any form of silverware.
However, on Saturday night Orlando Pirates defeated Bloemfontein Celtic 2-1 to be crowned the MTN8 champions at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.
Last year, of course, Chiefs had one hand on the PSL title, but Amakhosi threw it all away on the last day of the season, as Sundowns walked away with the honours.
With a highly-regarded coach in the form of Gavin Hunt at the helm, Chiefs were expected to earn some sort of dignity this season.
But it hasn’t been the case. They have had an underwhelming start in the premiership, while Pirates held the bragging rights of the town, emphatically winning the MTN8 semi-finals contest between the two clubs in this season of Covid-19.
That Pirates went on to defeat Celtic 2-1 in the Wafa Wafa cup final on Saturday is something that deserves celebration all round in Soweto. After all, for the past eight seasons, locally, glory has been shared among the Tshwane giants.
Mamelodi Sundowns are the kings of the land, while rivals SuperSport United are cup specialists.
Last season, Sundowns won the PSL title, the Telkom Knockout and Nedbank Cup, while SuperSport bagged the MTN8.
But Celtic also deserve a lot of credit for reaching the final. Celtic’s financial woes have been well documented. There were reports that the club was up for sale and the players were not being paid.
That, however, hasn’t stopped them from qualifying for two cup finals in a row – the Nedbank Cup and MTN8.
And much to the delight of the football fraternity, they’ve played some entertaining football too.
But in the end, the glory went to Pirates, and one man who deserves a lot of the credit is coach Josef Zinnbauer, who has turned the team around since his arrival.
He celebrated his first anniversary at the club in fine style.
Of course, the race for the PSL title still has a long way to go, but for now, the Soweto fans are back in full voice.
The Star