Orlando Pirates assistant coach Mandla Ncikazi and defender Tapelo Xoki seem to be on parallel lines of thought ahead of Saturday's Nedbank Cup final against Kaizer Chiefs at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.
The Buccaneers have won the last two editions and are desperate to win it for the third time in a row, while the Glamour Boys haven't won any title for the last 10 years. Furthermore, Amakhosi have lost the last five Soweto derbies across all competitions, with the latest defeat coming in the Premier Soccer League last weekend.
Ahead of the match, Ncikazi explained why the Buccaneers come into the match as underdogs despite their undoubted quality.
‘We do not want to fall into the fallacy of being favourites'
“We are not favourites; being a favourite is very subjective; it depends on how you look at it. One, Chiefs were the last winners in the Cup final between the two teams [in 2014's MTN8], secondly, Chiefs are a well-rested team if you look at the number of games we’ve played,” he said ahead of the game.
“We’ve played 48 games and they’ve played 34 games. We’ve played 14 more games than what they have played. So, they are a well-rested team.
“Coming into this week, we were playing yesterday [Tuesday, against Golden Arrows] and Chiefs had a whole week of preparations. So, we do not want to fall into the fallacy of being favourites. Kaizer Chiefs are [favourites],” Ncikazi concluded.
Winning a three-peat will mean a lot to Pirates – Xoki
“I can’t speak for coach Mandla; he knew what he was saying, but yeah, for us, we know very well that when it comes to these games, it’s about who wants it more. It’s a derby, form doesn’t play, history doesn’t play, but the eleven [players] on the day,” Xoki stated.
“So, we have to make sure that everyone who gets the chance to play executes their jobs well. [Winning the last derby] counts for nothing. What matters is who wants it more, who is hungry enough, and for us, we have to tick those boxes.
“It will mean a lot for us to win the cup three times in a row. We would be the first ones to do it. But we don’t look at those things now. We have to play the game first.”
