Monday morning's draw for the Telkom Cup broke with tradition from the previous two rounds as the seeding system which was in effect in the round of 16 and quarterfinal draws fell away. As a result The Amakhosi were the first team drawn out of PSL General Manager Andrew Dipela’s special Telkom Cup bag of surprises, which meant that Chiefs would be playing in the first semifinal scheduled for Saturday 10th November, joining The Amakhosi on the road to Mmabatho in the North West Province for the first Telkom Cup semifinal is Bloemfontein Celtic.

The following day will see the completion of the semi’s as Free State Stars and defending PSL Champions Mamelodi Sundowns, battle it out in the second semifinal to see who will complete the line up for the December 1 final.

Amakhosi coach Muhsin Ertugral was calm about the draw, knowing that so far in the tournament Chiefs have come through two tough assignments against SuperSport United and Moroka Swallows.

Ertugral no concern

Chiefs coach Muhsin Ertugral’s immediate reaction upon hearing that his team would be facing the current PSL log leaders in the Telkom Cup semifinals joked around and said: “I have no issue playing against Celtic, as long as the game is not in the Free State.”

With the semifinals being played on neutral ground, Ertugral got his wish as the game will be played in the Independence Stadium in Mmabatho.

Having not had an easy draw through out the cup the Chiefs coach believes his team can pull through against Celtic, as he elaborated, “If you see what we have had to overcome thus far in the form of Swallows and SuperSport, it has not been an easy ride for us, and neither will the semifinal against the team who are currently leading the log. We have been playing with a lot of confidence throughout the Cup. Given the way we had to fight against SuperSport, we have to fancy ourselves to get to the final, we have come this far and bowing out at the semifinals is not an option.”

Top billing

With Chiefs listing the ABSA Stadium in Durban, as well as the Olympia Park Stadium in Rustenburg, Vodacom Loftus Stadium in Tshwane as their home grounds for the current season, there was very little option for the tournament organizers to do than move the game to Mmabatho.

Chiefs are no strangers to the Independent Stadium pitch having recently played there in the pre-season Telkom Charity Cup, this game is the first cup meeting between The Amakhosi and Celtic since their 2005 – 2006 SAA Supa8 quarterfinal match.

Celtic emerged the victors that time around winning 2-1, Chiefs though will remember that the last time the clubs met in a competitive match was a league game in March this year and Chiefs dominated throughout winning the game 4-0. Muhsin Ertugral will not have a problem if the result lands up being the same as the March one, Celtic now stand in the way of Chiefs and the 2007 Telkom Cup semifinals.