For Kaizer Chiefs the dream became a reality in 2006 when The Amakhosi walked away from the 2006 tournament as the champions. With the odds stacked heavily against them in 2006, Chiefs managed to turn what looked like a nightmare draw round after round, as they faced the likes of SuperSport United, Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates on their way to the winners podium.

Having won two of the trophies which have eluded them for some time in recent years; namely the Supa8 and ABSA Cup titles, Chiefs will be in no mood to let go of their defending champions tag and will be ready to do everything it takes to hold onto the trophy.

Facing Golden Arrows in the round of thirty-two on Sunday does not phase Amakhosi coach Ernst Middendorp, who had made it clear that he prefers starting off the tournament against PSL opposition.

Who would blame the Chiefs coach for being satisfied with the draw when Chiefs won their first piece of silverware this current season, namely the SAA Supa8 trophy. They opened up in the tournament with a 2-0 win over Arrows at the FNB Stadium in August last year, and went all the way and eventually won the Supa8 trophy for the first time in five years back in October.

Ernst Middendorp is not one to stand on ceremony and does not read much into past history and statistics and will be wary of the threat posed by Arrows, and will be looking towards his team putting in the same kind of disciplined performance which saw them take three points off BidVest Wits on Sunday.

Chiefs will take a lot of heart from the way they controlled the game and had the opposition on the back foot, one area that would concern the Chiefs coach is the fact that his team were only able to convert one of the many opportunities that they managed to create against Wits.

Historically Speaking

While Chiefs did find Arrows to be somewhat of a sticky opponent in PSL game during Arrows formative PSL years, they have found the going easier against the team from the coast in Cup games.

In all, Chiefs have come up against Arrows three times in cup competition since Arrows joined the elite ranks back in the 2000 – 2001 season, twice in the Coca Cola Cup with the most recent clash between the two teams coming this season in the form of an SAA Supa8 ¼ Final game. Chiefs will be looking to keep up their 100% record in Cup games against Arrows at Olimpia Park on Sunday.

Chiefs defender Siphiwe Mkhonza when he was still a Golden Arrows player a couple of seasons ago found himself scoring for both teams, during a Coca Cola Cup ¼ Finals game in November 2002. Mkhonza scored an own goal in the 16th minute of the game and did redeem himself by finding an equalizer for Arrows in the second half, but it was not to be Arrows day as Kabamba Musasa stepped in with 12 minutes of the match remaining and found the winning goal for the Amakhosi.

Two seasons later (2004 – 2005) Chiefs again defeated Arrows by 2-1 in a Coca Cola Cup game played at the ABSA Stadium in Durban, Collins Mbesuma and Arthur Zwane were Chiefs heroes while Arrows did get on the score sheet thanks to a Lucky Sibeko goal. Back in August the teams met once again in a cup game this time in the form of an SAA Supa8 ¼ Final, which Chiefs won 2-0 thanks to a first half Siyabonga Nkosi goal with David Obua sealing the win with a second half penalty.

Form

Prior to the teams last meeting in Orkney a few weeks ago Arrows were on top of their game with back to back league victories - since defeating Chiefs their form has dipped somewhat. A 2-1 home reverse suffered at the hands of Bloemfontein Celtics would not have done Arrows confidence much good, just as they were beginning to find form and looked like the Arrows of old.

During the loss to Celtic they were plagued by the kind of problems they have had prior to the recent run off good results, their performance over the weekend was capped by a number of defensive lapses as well as Arrows inability to string together passes.

Chiefs in the mean time seemed to have grown from the Arrows defeat and came out guns blazing over the weekend with a well worked win over Wits, who made Chiefs work all the way for their win. Should Chiefs be able to keep the momentum gained from the Wits win going then they should be able to progress to the next round without much of a problem. Chiefs game on Sunday was characterized by a number of one touch build up’s, which helped The Amakhosi keep the opposition goal under siege for much of the game. The Amakhosi showed their mental toughness against Wits, winning away from home with a very partisan home crowd doing all they could to unsettle them.

Key Players

Two injury time goals in consecutive games will ensure that Ernst Middendorp will pay special attention to the name known as the super sub, Norman Smith who was responsible for popping up in injury time to score Arrows winner against Chiefs two weeks ago.

Smith was at it again over the weekend as he found a late consolation goal for Arrows, his ability to come on late in the game and find goals will make him a target man, the Chiefs defence have already had first hand experienced of Smith’s goal scoring abilities.

The obvious threat that comes from Arrows whenever they face up to Chiefs is that of striker Mabhuti Khanyeza, who was again all over the place two weeks ago when the teams clashed in Orkney. That time around Mabuthi was well contained by The Amakhosi rear guard, he did display his love for coming up against Chiefs and his added passion for scoring against them.

Gert Schalkwyk was one of Chiefs star performers over the weekend as he got stuck into the Wits defence with devastating effect, getting a number of passes up to the front men. The highly gifted Schalkwyk caught out Wits on a number of occasions, with timely passes around the back, which made the Wits defence look really static, Gert was well supported Sunday by the darting runs up-field from Jimmy Tau who played in the role usually occupied by Chiefs Zimbabwean international Tinashe Nengomasha. Tau who filled in for the suspended Nengomasha excelled in his role, and received a number of plaudits from his coach, teammates and the media for his performance against Wits.

Match Information

Kaizer Chiefs Vs Golden Arrows


ABSA Cup Round of 32


Olympia Park, Rustenburg


25th February 2007 - SUNDAY


Kick Off: 15h45

Kaizer Chiefs Vs Golden Arrows

Past results in Cup games

Coca Cola Cup ¼ Final 2002


Golden Arrows 1 (Mkhonza) Kaizer Chiefs 2 (Mkhonza o.g., Musasa)

Coca Cola Cup Last Sixteen 2004


Golden Arrows 1 (Sibeko) Kaizer Chiefs 2 (Zwane, Mbesuma)

SAA Supa8 ¼ Finals 2006


Kaizer Chiefs 2 (Nkosi, Obua pen)

Head to head cup matches Chiefs Vs Arrows since 2002

P	W	L	GF	GA	GD



Chiefs	3	3	0	6	2	4



Arrows	3	0	3	2	6	-4