Dear reader, I have expressed the following assertion umpteen times in this ephemeral column:
Sundowns are not cup final material and Chiefs will be struggling to fight off relegation in the next PSL season.
I am saying this column is ephemeral because like the rainbow it doesn’t stay on for ever; it comes and goes and reappears again at the opportune time.
This is typical of us armchair critics: we lie in the shadows and wait for the opportune moment to strike while the proverbial iron is still hot.
But our criticism is well-intentioned and without malice.
Our passion is to fix South African football and point out without fear or favour at the glaring blunders that are committed by our local professional football teams.
Now on the issue of Sundowns not being cup final material, my assertion is based on the fact that the Mamelodi township- inspired team has not won any knockout cup final match in recent times right here at home.
Now for anyone to have thought that Sundowns would beat Pyramids of Egypt right in Cairo amounted to wishful thinking.
Before the Sundowns vs Pyramids game in Egypt, I heard several Sundowns players telling anyone within ear-shot that Sundowns would score one goal against Pyramids and make sure that Pyramids don’t equalise.
For anyone to have expected Pyramids not to retaliate brutally should Sundowns score against them is nonsensical.
Ably led upfront by lone striker Fiston Kalala Mayela from the Democratic Republic of Congo,the side which is sponsored by Saudi Arabian oil moguls, managed to beat Sundowns hands down in the CAF Cup final match.
Now turning to Chiefs, my opinion is that there are no “stars” there at that team; there are no players who look like they are poetry in motion and there are no players who look like they have been ordained by the gods of football to play soccer.
Chiefs will be struggling in the nest PSL season because at the moment they are just a run-of-the-mill team that depends on luck to win games.
If any Chiefs fan insists that their team is good, that it managed to beat both Sundowns and Chiefs on its way to winning the Nedbank cup Final, my response is that erstwhile ill-fated teams like Mamelodi United who went by the streetwise name Mams, Pretoria Callies alias The Romans, African Wanderers who were loyally referred to as Isidindi Somtshiki, as well as Witbank Aces respectfully known as AmaZayoni all used to beat Mamelodi Sundowns and Pirates before they were eventually demoted to the lower echelons of professional football.