Former Cup Kings Kaizer Chiefs face a tricky side in Cape Town City in the Nedbank Cup

Kaizer Chiefs have been handed a tall order to get past high-riding Cape Town City to make it into the semi-finals of the lucrative Nedbank Cup.

In the past two rounds, Chiefs laboured to get past minnows in the round of 32 and 16. They finally managed to dispose of SAB League outfit Tornados FC in East London through an own goal from one of their defenders to the relief rather than a celebration for Amakhosi in a match that appeared destined for extra-time.

The same happened in the last 16 round when they drew The Magic FC of Cape Town, an ABC Motsepe League outfit. The Soweto Glamour Boys huffed and puffed to get past this ‘David’ side of the Nedbank Cup who were determined to cause a huge upset for the ‘Goliaths’ of the competition.

It took Amakhosi, a team with a longstanding history of excellence on the football pitch, 120 minutes to finally dispose of the gutsy Western Cape side. Chiefs had to dig deep to overcome the ABC Motsepe League outfit with three well-executed goals in extra-time of the game.

Now having drawn Benni McCarthy’s ‘The Citizens’ for the quarterfinals, things are bound to be tough if Amakhosi, better known in years gone by as the Cup Kings of South Africa, do not pull up their socks and rise to the occasion.

“It’s a tall order kind of draw for us but everybody in the team is determined to make their contribution to make sure Amakhosi come out of what will be our home match smoking. We know it’s not going to be easy but we’re determined to fight to the finish,” said Chiefs striker George Maluleka soon after the draw.

He also toyed with the view from numerous sports scribes that whoever came out of this clash victorious, may eventually go all the way to lift the trophy. “That is a possibility,” he said but warned against undermining other teams that have made it this far.

“The fact that they have made it this far means they are good in what they do and they too have a chance like everyone else to go all the way and lift the trophy,” he added.

The dates, times and venues of the quarterfinals will be announced later by the Premier Soccer League in consultation with the sponsors Nedbank. The draw has incidentally ensured that there will be a minnow’s side in the semi-finals with National First Division sides Cape Umoya United and TS Galaxy pitted against each other in the quarters.

The rest of the draw is as follows:

Kaizer Chiefs   vs Cape Town City

Bloemfontein Celtic vs Lamontville Golden Arrows

Bidvest Wits vs Chippa United

Cape Umoya United vs TS Galaxy.

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