It’s now confirmed, the much talked about Soweto Derby has lost its spark.
Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates again played out to a boring goalless draw before a packed stadium Orlando Stadium Saturday afternoon.
It was the first goalless draw for two teams in seasons, in recent years. Even the deafening noise from the Vuvuzela’s- a popular musical horn could not lift the game.
There was not a moment that the players showed any hunger to score. In fact, Orlando had just 9 shots at goal against 15 from Pirates.
The drab match left many questions being asked on the quality of South
Africa based players in view of the coming June World Cup.
Players in the squad looked tired throughout the game.
The game started on a high note with both teams applying pressure and
creating chances.
Pirates dominated the proceedings in the opening minutes, creating chance after chance, while Chiefs looked more threatening in the later stages.
This morning, writing in his weekly column, Kaizer’s Cheif executive chairman, Kaizer Motaung lashed out at the Soweto Derby critics saying
their criticism that it has lost its spark has reached a point of “worry
and disgust”.
“The weekend Derby has once more come under attack from prophets of
doom who are hell-bent on diluting its significance even before the kick-off. Over some time, the prophets have dismissed its rich history and every drama associated with it to a point of worry and disgust,” Motaung wrote.
So did the players conspire to embarrass Motaung?
Starting line ups included:
Orlando Pirates;
Moeneeb Josephs, Lekgwathi, Makonese, Thwala, Mahamutsa, Jali, Mabalane, Chansa Chenene, Mashego, Mbuyane
Kaizer Chiefs;
Khune,Tau, Nahayo, Sweswe, Masenamela ,Letsholonyane, Nale, Nengomasha, Dladla Musona, Tshabalala