The MTN8 semifinals have produced perhaps two surprise finalists in this year’s competition, but few could argue that Orlando Pirates and AmaZulu deserve their places in the November 5 decider.
It comes after two intriguing second legs in the Last 4 this past weekend and we pick out the talking points from those games.
ERASMUS IS A PLAYER REBORN
Kermit Erasmus looks like a new player after making his switch from Mamelodi Sundowns to Pirates and came back to haunt his former employers with another goal in The Buccaneers’ 3-0 win at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.
Erasmus’ talent has never been in question, but at times he has battled to show his full potential, not least in a underwhelming two-year spell at Chloorkop.
When Erasmus joined Sundowns in 2020, he claimed he was targeting 30 goals that season (something Peter Shalulile managed the following year). In the end he netted 11 in 43 appearances across two campaigns.
But he looks to have the fire back in his belly on his return to Pirates and has transformed them in attack with his x-factor and quality on the ball, not just scoring goals but laying on chances for teammates too. He could be the signing of the season.
NO SHALULILE, NO GOAL
By contrast, Sundowns have been missing Peter Shalulile in attack since his injury following the first leg of the MTN8 semifinals.
They look nowhere near as potent without him as the focal-point of their forward line and it is all a bit predictable and ‘same-same’ when he is not there.
It was, perhaps, in the end folly to let Pavol Safranko leave the club to open up a foreigner spot, as he was both a fairly regular scorer, but more importantly that No 9 style targetman striker that they now miss so badly.
You do also have to applaud the organisation and application of Pirates to keep The Brazilians at bay over 180 minutes of the tie, there are not many teams across the African continent who could have managed that.
THE WAIT GOES ON FOR CHIEFS
Kaizer Chiefs supporters might have truly hoped this would be their year to end their seven-year trophy drought, but that will be extended to at least eight after another failure in the MTN8.
They did not create enough in the second leg 0-0 draw with AmaZulu and when they did have a sight of goal, the finish was poor in their defeat on the away goals rule.
As coach Arthur Zwane pointed out, it was really the first leg where the tie was lost as they missed a host of opportunities at the FNB Stadium and might have come into the second leg in a comfortable position.
He maintains it is still a building process, but he will also know that patience among now long-suffering Chiefs fans will not last forever.
And there is a Soweto Derby against Pirates coming up this weekend …
A WATERSHED MOMENT FOR ONE COACH
The meeting of Orlando Pirates’ Jose Riveiro and AmaZulu’s Romain Folz in the final of the MTN8 means one of them will pick up a first piece of silverware in South African football.
For Spaniard Riveiro it would mean almost instant success since his high-profile arrival at Pirates with the promise of modern football methods and fresh ideas on how to approach the game.
The 32-year-old Folz has only recently come into the hotseat at Usuthu, where expectations are high that the club will end their 30-year wait for silverware.
Owner Sandile Zungu has put winning a trophy down as a priority this season and the young manager is very close to delivering on that.
For whichever coach does win, it will be a first major trophy of their careers and potentially the springboard to bigger things as they prove their worth a little more in the eyes of local fans