Orlando Pirates v Santos – Saturday 6 August – Soccer City, Johannesburg (20:15)
Orlando Pirates
With most of the domestic leagues edging closer to kick-off, the players are getting into gear for what should be a feisty campaign ahead of them. Our attention turns to the MTN 8 Cup this weekend as the top 8 finishers of the previous season do battle and are all hoping to get their hands on that whopping R16 Million prize money.
Orlando Pirates are the current MTN 8 champions after their historic season last campaign, winning the treble under the guidance of Dutchman Ruud Krol. The Buccaneer fans will be expecting nothing less than to relive last campaign and the new man in charge will be expected to deliver. Júlio Leal is the new man in the hot seat as he replaced Ruud Krol to much surprise. A lot of the Pirates fans are still not over that shock decision of letting the Dutchman leave after such a successful season and the Brazilian has big shoes to fill. Pirates won their first cup last week as they overcame their bitter rivals Kaizer Chiefs in the all new Black label Cup and this can only be seen as a step in the right direction for Júlio Leal as there are still fans that need proof that he is the man to keep Pirates on the victory path. The Brazilian wasted little time in adding depth to his squad as he brought in the likes of the highly rated Sameehg Doutie and Bongani Ndulula. These two are already proving to be amongst the fans favourites and the combinations with Andile Jali and Oupa Manyisa is a real worry for opposing teams.
Santos managed to scrape into this cup as they finished in 8th place last term. Last season had its ups and downs for the club as they went through an injury crisis at a vital period of the campaign and manager Boebie Solomons felt this was their ultimate down fall. They lost the prolific striker Erwin Isaacs to a groin problem and this dented their chances on making the top 4. Club Captain Tyren Arendse will be expecting a much more successful season this time around and what better way to get his troops fired up than to win the MTN 8. Santos last lifted this cup in 2002 under the guidance of Gordon Igesund as they did the double that year. The likes of Romano Scott and lanky striker Eleazar Rodgers will be expected to lead from the front with Erwin Isaacs playing down either flank or joining in as a supporting striker. Boebie Solomons has had quite a few spells with Santos and should know the strengths and weaknesses of his players and will be looking to push them to their limits.
As this is a cup encounter, form is thrown out the window and this will come down to who wants it more on the day. Pirates are the favorites in this tie.
