A milestone beckons for Chiefs diminutive midfielder Gerald Sibeko who stands on the brink of making his 100th appearance for The Amakhosi should he feature during Chiefs Nedbank Cup match against Mamelodi Sundowns on Sunday at the ABSA Stadium in Durban.

With the news that he has overcome an ankle problem and came through a rigorous training session on Thursday, Sibeko who made his debut for Chiefs during Muhsin Ertugral’s first reign as Chiefs coach back in October 2000 against Tembisa Classic (now Maritzburg United) looks set to rack up a century of matches in Gold and Black on Sunday.

According to the Chiefs number 27 who will celebrate his 29th birthday in June this year, the ultimate honour will be to help Chiefs glide into the next round of the Nedbank Cup. He will long cherish winning a match against a very challenging opponent on what will be a milestone day for him, and it will also be banked in his vault of memories.

Game time

Sibeko now in his seventh season with Chiefs, has seen a healthy amount of game time this season which has seen him start and be used as a substitute in a total of sixteen league games. In addition, he played in all of Chiefs four Telkom Knockout Cup games and scored the vital goal against Bloemfontein Celtic in the semifinal that eventually set up Chiefs Cup Final showdown with Sundowns. He now looks forward to earning his 100th cap for Chiefs saying, “It has been eight long and very successful seasons in my opinion that I have spent at Chiefs and to be able to be part of a select group of players who can say that they have played a century of games for Chiefs in my book is something to be pleased with. There are also not many players who have had the honour of saying that they have played for so many years for a team like Chiefs, where the spotlight and the gaze of the public is on you game after game”.

Sunday showdown

Earning a hundred caps is an important feat for any player and doing it against a team who you share a special rivalry with will according to Sibeko make the match one to remember, as he explained. “I have played in many games against Sundowns and there is always this intensity about when we face them, the matches are very colourful and spectacular occasions and the football produced is of the highest level. Given all of this I perhaps could not have asked for a better stage on which to bring in my 100th appearance for the club with whom I have now been with for more than a decade. The objective is to win the game and hopefully celebrate the achievement with my team mates after the game”.