Andile Jali will not be the only player in the reckoning to play on Saturday against his old club when log leaders Mamelodi Sundowns travel to Soweto to take on Orlando Pirates.
On the opposite end will be striker Kermit Erasmus, who left the champions at the end of last season to return to his old club Pirates.
These are two of the many greats who have pulled on the shirt of both sides and Supersport.com has chosen them in the definite list of the five best to have done duty for both the Brazilians and the Buccaneers
Andile Jali: The sturdy, and strappingly built midfielder was brought back by Sundowns from his spell with KV Oostende in Belgium in 2018 and in the four subsequent seasons has played a significant part in helping the Pretoria team to the DStv Premiership title. At first, coach Pitso Mosimane was not convinced about his comportment, nor his fitness and it took time before Jali was a regular, but once he was given command of the Downs midfield, his ability to boss the sector was again all too apparent.
He did so with calmness and a languid style, showing the patience he had learned in Europe. He later captained the club, but of late, as he approaches his 33rd birthday in June, has lost his place in the lineup to Tebogo Mokoena. Jali began at University of Pretoria under Steve Barker and should have played in the 2009 Nedbank Cup final but for suspension. However, he had done enough in the second division side’s giant-killing run to earn a move to Pirates, where he played 141 matches over five seasons, winning two league titles, and became a national team regular before earning his move overseas in 2014.
Kermit Erasmus: The nuggety striker has only scored twice this season but one came with great relish against Sundowns in October’s MTN8 semifinal, second leg triumph at Loftus Versfeld. The 3-0 thumping was a rare blemish for the Brazilians in this campaign but a triumph for Erasmus, who had left the club after two relatively unproductive seasons. Although he scored 10 goals, he only made 20 starts across all competitions and will look back upon his time at the club with some disappointment, despite adding to his tally of medals.
Pirates were keen to have him back after the impact he made with them from 2013-16 before they sold him to Stade Rennes in France. Erasmus, originally from Gqeberha, had been a teenage prodigy and was initially sent overseas by SuperSport United to Feyenoord Rotterdam in the Netherlands. He returned to the PSL with SuperSport after the 2010 Word Cup and helped them to a Nedbank Cup triumph, which he also achieved with Pirates. After his spell in France, he joined Cape Town City and was quickly in among the goals again, prompting Sundowns to buy him in 2018. His tally of goals in South African football now stands at 79.
Teko Modise: One of the most popular players the country has ever produced – and now an analyst on SuperSport – Modise was at Pirates for three and a half seasons and spent double that amount of time at Sundowns, eventually winning two league championship medals before finishing his career at Cape Town City. Modise joined Pirates in 2008 from SuperSport in a move suggested at the time came after a fallout with new coach Gavin Hunt, but which Hunt later said had been forced on him and which had made him furious to lose such a valuable player.
Ironically SuperSport would go on and win three successive league titles while Modise toiled away at Pirates without success, although he did establish himself during that time as the national team kingpin going into the 2010 World Cup. His Pirates’ days, however, ended with coach Ruud Krol benching him and in something of a state of limbo. A move to Sundowns seemed overdue and it was one that worked out for both parties. He was immediately imperious at Sundowns and the leader of the team when Pitso Mosimane took over as coach, continuing that role through the early days of the new coach. Modise featured in the 2016 African Champions League winning side, one that remains the pinnacle of the Brazilians’ endeavours over the years.
Mbulelo Mabizela: Arguably one of the greatest players South African football produced and one of its heartbreakingly sad failures too. Mabizela made his name at Pirates and did much to redeem it again when he played at Sundowns, but the overriding image remains of a player who could have been so much more, indeed an international star. This is not to take away from the fact he captained his country and played in the Premier League in England. Mabizela was spotted by Irvin Khoza playing for amateurs Maritzburg City, who were surprising quarterfinalists in the 2001 Bob Save Super Bowl.
The teenage Mabizela was man of the match when they upset Ajax Cape Town in the first round and shone again when Maritzburg narrowly lost to Santos in the last eight. Pirates moved swiftly at the end of the season to sign him and very quickly threw the multi-faceted player into the limelight. He helped them win the league in 2003 and had played just nine games for them when he was called up for Bafana Bafana by Carlos Queiroz. Tottenham Hotspur had one look at him in their exhibition game against Pirates in Durban and signed him on the spot. But despite a dramatic start at Spurs, he eventually suffered the ignominy of being sacked by the club, his extensive drinking causing his undoing. There was still plenty of talent, however, and Mabizela came back home to help Sundowns win the 2007 title, although they eventually let him go as his wayward ways continued.
Albert Mahlangu: When Sundowns first won promotion to the top flight in the early 80s, ‘Bashin’ and brother Hamilton were part of the team that toiled without any success until Zola Mahobe bought the club and began to pump his illicit millions into buying players. Mahlangu, who started his career at Western Tigers, was one of the last original players left at the club when Mahobe paid for the entire squad and wives to attend the 1986 FA Cup and he was let go not long after, moving to Pirates. He was almost 30 at the time but the change launched his career and turned him from journeyman professional into, still, one of the Buccaneers’ most beloved footballers.
Pirates were bouncing back themselves after several torrid years battling near the bottom rather than the top and Mahlangu helped them to the 1987 and 1990 JPS Knockout Cup finals against Bush Bucks and Mamelodi Sundowns respectively, which they lost. But he was also in the side that won the 1988 BoB Save Super Bowl after a replay in the final against Kaizer Chiefs and he scored in the final of the 1992 Castle Challenge when Pirates beat Sundowns 2-1
Mahlangu won his only cap for South Africa against Botswana in a friendly international in January, 1993, debuting at the age of 33 years, eight months and five days, and ended his career at the age of 39 at Moroka Swallows.