Posted in News on Apr 06, 2004.
The match will be carried live on SS3 at 19:00. Broadcast starts at 18:15 with a studio chat and an update on the latest soccer news around the country.
Against Ajax, Chiefs simply did not show enough hunger to win but that defeat should serve as a wake-up call. The Naturena outfit should also realise that if they are to lift the championship for the first time in 13 years they will have to work hard as, with Ajax breathing heavily down their necks, you can take nothing for granted.
It will be a tough run-in for Chiefs, who will play five of their remaining nine league matches away from home. After the Swallows fixture the Glamour Boys will set off to Limpopo for a clash against Dynamos on Sunday.
Chiefs then have testing clashes with Silver Stars, arch-rivals Orlando Pirates, SuperSport United, relegation-threatened Zulu Royals, Santos, Wits and Swallows. While no game can be classified as “easy”, Ajax - who are away to Manning Rangers on Wednesday - will have a relatively less strenuous run-in but their Absa Cup commitment could force them to lose focus.
A closer look into the history of the Chiefs/Swallows fixture reveals some promising news for the Amakhosi faithful, who are still reeling from the Ajax defeat. In 38 encounters since 1985, Chiefs have only lost six times against the Dube Birds with 21 victories to their credit. Also interesting is the fact that they have never met in any cup competition over the same period.
Swallows will, however, not read much into these statistics as they are on a high following a successful weekend in the Absa Cup, blasting Vodacom League side Tornado FC 4-0. It was their fourth outing without defeat since the 5-1 humiliation against Santos on March 3.
The Santos defeat also exposed some glaring weaknesses in the Birds defence and Chiefs should look to take advantage of these. Overall, Swallows have conceded 23 goals in 23 matches but they can be lethal up front having scored 35 league goals to date.
Zimbabwean international Tenashe Nengomasha has played a key role in the Amakhosi midfield since the start of the season, so much so that other quality players like Jabulani Mendu, formerly with Swallows and Thabo Mooki have struggled to make the starting line-up.
He will have to put up another vintage performance to restrict supply from the Swallows midfield to lanky striker Lungisani Ndlela and Denis Lota.
Meanwhile, Amakhosi MD Kaizer Motaung dismissed suggestions that his club employed unsporting tactics in taking their Absa Cup match against Ajax to Mmabatho as opposed to their traditional venue at Soccer City.
“Anyone who had checked their facts would know that it was impossible for us to play the game in Johannesburg. I think it was irresponsible of Sbusiso Mseleku from City Press to suggest that we had employed dirty tricks to destabilise the opposition,” said Motaung.
“We had made efforts to have the game played in Johannesburg but, unfortunately, Soccer City was booked for a political rally and the Ellis Park stadium was out of bounds due to the rugby that was played there on Saturday.
“I agree that playing in Johannesburg would have given us the advantage. What they must realise is that playing in Mmabatho was a disadvantage for us as well, especially as we are now familiar with the turf at Soccer City,” he said.
SUMMARY
League matches in brackets
Chiefs Swallows
Played (38) (38)
Won (21) ( 6)
Drawn (11) (11)
Lost (6) (21)
GF (53) (25)
GA (25) (53)
