Soweto derby main attraction in second semi-final of Carling Cup

The Soweto derby between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates will be the main attraction on Saturday when these giants of South African soccer meet in the second semi-final of the Carling Cup competition at the FNB stadium.

Kaizer Chiefs coach Arthur Zwane says Pirates’ confidence will be high after they won the MTN8 Cup competition last weekend.

Zwane says past results don’t count for anything when the two teams meet and they’ve put behind them their win over Pirates recently and Saturday’s match is a challenge they want to conquer.

His opposite number at Pirates, Jose Riveiro, agrees that the players confidence is high and they are motivated, and their plan is to put up an even better performance.

Carling Black Label Cup I Chiefs dates Pirates at the FNB stadium on Saturday:

Mamelodi Sundowns will play the first semi-final of the Cup competition against AmaZulu which for the first time has four teams. They play in the morning before Chiefs and Pirates play at noon.

With Pirates having beaten AmaZulu to lift the MTN8 trophy last Saturday, the match couldn’t have come at a better time with both sets of fans looking forward to it.

🏆 #𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐂𝐮𝐩 🏆

Amakhosi will go head to head with their arch-rivals Amabhakaniya in the Carling Black Label Cup semi-final!

🗓️ Sat, 12 Nov
⏰ 12:00
⚽️ Kaizer Chiefs 🆚 Orlando Pirates
📺 SABC 1
📻 SABC Radio Stations#WeLoveItHere #SABCSportFootball #iBozaYamaBoza pic.twitter.com/yob0PgoWv2

— SABC Sport (@SABC_Sport) November 11, 2022

Riveiro says their plan is to show another good performance one more time.

“Obviously we are still so happy and so proud about our last achievement together so after that success the mood and motivation is high. But we are still learning so this will give us an opportunity to improve to play hopefully two beautiful games and like I said we are motivated and hoping to show a great performance one more time,” said Riveiro.

Zwane says, “To be quite honest we playing against champions of MTN so I think their confidence will be more than ours because they have just won. But previous reasons count for nothing when these two giants meet now we have a new challenge that we have to conquer.”

Sundowns coach Rhulani Mokoena says it doesn’t make a difference and for the players it’s a match that has to be won.

“I can say I am used to this because I coach Black Poison sometimes on the weekends and some of your colleagues are there with me. This is the game of football and it belongs to the players and there’s a game to win.”

🏆

Catch Bafana Ba Style as they battle it out with Usuthu in the Carling Black Label Cup semi-final clash!

🗓️ Sat, 12 Nov
⏰ 09:30
⚽️ Mamelodi Sundowns 🆚 Amazulu
📺 SABC 1
📻 SABC Radio Stations#WeLoveItHere #SABCSportFootball #iBozaYamaBoza pic.twitter.com/GSfoRaLZO4

— SABC Sport (@SABC_Sport) November 11, 2022

Carling Black Label Director, Arne Rust, says the winners will pocket no less than a million rand, while all 16 teams will be paid a sum of money for putting their names in the hat for the competition.

“There’s always cash money at the end, the winning team wins nothing less than a million rand and if that’s not something to play for then I don’t know. And all of the 16 teams that put their names in the hat have been paid for their participation,” says Rust.

Chiefs are the current champions of the competition and have won four titles, while Pirates are the most successful team in the competition with five titles.

Sundowns gun for this year’s Carling Black Label Cup: