An increasingly-confident Chippa United side will be fancying their chances of causing an upset against Mamelodi Sundowns in a Telkom Knockout last-16 game in Mdantsane on Sunday.
The Chilli Boys, who also play their games at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth, have produced some of their most scintillating football at the Sisa Dukashe Stadium, a township-based ground just outside of East London.
With the smaller more compact stadium easier to pack out and with the stands close to the pitch, Chippa really do appear to have a 12th man on their side at this venue – when in full voice, as they usually are throughout the 90 minutes, the Chilli Boys faithful are a joy to watch, a show unto themselves, and a reminder how things were at far more stadiums across South Africa pre the days of the vuvuzela.
If Chippa, who notched their first win under new coach Teboho Moloi last weekend, can find their mojo early on and get the fans right behind them, it could be a testing afternoon for a Sundowns side on the ropes after losing to AmaZulu and Kaizer Chiefs in their last two matches.
And Moloi’s comments after his side beat Cape Town City (also in Mdantsane) 2-1 on Sunday, could mean that the fans in the East London region are encouraged to turn out in even greater numbers, adding to the challenge for Pitso Mosimane’s Brazilians. “I told them at halftime (after being 0-1 down) that sometimes playing with a super system doesn’t work,” the former Orlando Pirates midfielder explained.
“I said: ‘In the field, there are 11 of us and 11 of them‚ so let’s go one-on-one. If your opponent beats you and goes and scores we’ll understand‚ but let’s go and do something whereby we show we understand what our role and our position is’. “I said throw the system out of the window and play the way we played in the township. That is what turned it around. When we went one-on-one it all turned in our favour.” – African News Agency (ANA)
