Mamelodi Sundowns host Kaizer Chiefs in a blockbuster opening Absa Premiership clash on Saturday, where three points could help set the tone for a successful season, writes DEAN WORKMAN.
Sundowns have dominated South African football since the arrival of Pitso Mosimane in 2012. During that time, Downs have not finished outside the top two, winning three Absa Premiership titles in the process, along with continental cup success with the 2016 Caf Champions League.
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The Brazilians have built a squad that is the envy of every coach in the Absa Premiership. The may have lost two of their star men in Percy Tau and Khama Billiat, but they dipped into the transfer market to add to a squad already packed full of talent.
The arrivals of Andile Jali, Lebohang Maboe, Lyle Lakay, Toni Silva and Jose Meza have gone a long way to ease the pain of the departures.
Masandawana have already begun playing competitive football after facing AS Togo-Port twice in the Caf Champions League, winning one while losing the other, and look well prepared to take on Amakhosi in their Absa Premiership opener.
Chiefs, on the other hand, have had a stop-start pre-season after the late arrival of new coach Giovanni Solinas.
The Italian only arrived at Naturena halfway through July, leaving him with precious little time to stamp his identity on a squad of players desperate for some success after three trophyless years.
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After last season’s debacle under former coach Steve Komphela, where the fans turned to violence to force his resignation, it was thought that Chiefs would undergo a mass overhaul in the transfer window.
Although the Glamour Boys released seven fringe players at the beginning of June, they have only brought in three new players in Khama Billiat, Virgil Vries and Andriamirado ‘Dax’ Andrianarimanana – hardly a mass overhaul considering Dax is still to join up with the squad following complications in completing the transfer from Madagascar.
Solinas will thus have more or less the same players who served the club under Komphela, but he will need to be an instant success if he is going to have a lengthy spell at Naturena.
The game will be filled with a number of subplots as Chiefs players Billiat, Castro and Ramahlwe Mphahlele will come up against their former employers.
It will also be Solinas’ debut on the touchline after he struggled to secure the correct documentation during pre-season and, as a result, has been watching his new team from the stands.
Mosimane has lamented his side’s slow starts in recent years and will be desperate to rectify that with a victory at the weekend.
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Downs will be without Jali and Anthony Laffor for the clash, while Chiefs have revealed that both Billiat and Siphiwe Tshabalala have overcome injuries and will be fit for the encounter.
With both teams hungry for success this season, a good start is imperative and whichever team can grab the three points may just set the tone for a successful campaign.
It all gets under way when Sundowns host Chiefs at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday afternoon, with kick-off scheduled for 3pm.
