Ertugral and his charges boarded their luxury bus outside the Kaizer Chiefs Village in Naturena on Thursday and headed down the motorway towards Mmabatho. The Chiefs coach looked upbeat and in a confident mood ahead of Saturday’s tournament.

The Amakhosi coach will be hoping that when his team gather for lunch on Saturday afternoon they will do so with knowledge that they have a cup final to deal with a few hours later, in addition he will be hoping that at lunch time on Saturday they can mull over what would have been his third Telkom Charity Cup victory over Orlando Pirates.

Test of strength

The Chiefs coach is aware that avenging the Vodacom Challenge loss that his team suffered at the hands of Pirates a week ago will be no easy task, he does however feel that his team will be up to the challenge prior to his departure for Mmabatho Ertugral told kaizerchiefs.com.

“Pirates strengthened their team by purchasing Teko Modise, he is a player whom I rate very highly overall they have a quality squad with a number of excellent players. With their off season purchases and ours both teams have demonstrated their intent to want to seriously challenge for honors this coming season, Saturday’s game will go along towards indicating to me as a team exactly how prepared we are for the league campaign,” said Ertugral.

Ertugral believes that Chiefs’ first game of the Charity Cup on Saturday will test his team’s resolve and character. Should they pass their first test of the day then lifting the trophy will be made all the more easier.

“Some might say that the draw has been un- kind to us but the truth is that it works in our advantage to play one of the stronger teams first. The boys are ready to strike back after losing in the Vodacom Challenge to Pirates and to win these kinds of competitions you want to do it by having beaten the best teams around,” he said.

Fourth Charity Cup Derby

Playing Pirates in the opening game of the Charity Cup is no new phenomenon for Ertugral, who during his previous three visits to the one-day show piece event with Chiefs always had to face Chiefs’ arch rivals Pirates in the opening game.

At present it is Ertugral who holds the statistical advantage over Pirates having led Chiefs to victories over the Buccaneers in the 2000 and 2002 Charity Cup tournaments, while Pirates did manage to defeat Chiefs in the semifinal of the 2001 event.

Ertugral will be hoping to leave some daylight between him and Pirates as he hopes to lead Chiefs to their third win against Pirates in four Charity Cup outings with him at the helm. Victory over Pirates will put Ertugral in his third Telkom Charity Cup Final and the Turkish-born coach will be aiming for his second Charity cup success.

Muhsin Ertugral’s record as Chiefs Coach Vs Orlando Pirates in Telkom Charity Cup

2000 Telkom Charity Cup, Semifinal

Kaizer Chiefs 0 Orlando Pirates 0


(Chiefs win 5-4 on penalties)

2001 Telkom Charity Cup, Semifinal


Kaizer Chiefs 0 Orlando Pirates 1 (Mkhize 52 min)

2002 Telkom Charity Cup, Semifinal


Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Maselesele 88 min) Orlando Pirates 0

Kaizer Chiefs vs Orlando Pirates head to head in Telkom Charity with Muhsin Ertugral as Chiefs coach

P	W	L	GF	GA	GD



Kaizer Chiefs	3	2	1	1	1	0



Orlando Pirates	3	1	2	1	1 	0