Let’s see who the clever German is in Soweto derby – Pitso
'It is a chicken and egg story, you don’t want Pirates to come close to you but you don’t want Chiefs to move away,' the coach adds.
Pitso Mosimane (Photo by Philip Maeta/Gallo Images)
Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane says he will be keeping an eye on the Soweto derby while in Egypt as Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs will lock horns at the FNB Stadium on Saturday afternoon a couple of hours before Masandawana face Al-Ahly in the Caf Champions League quarterfinal.
Mosimane said it would be interesting to see who was the smartest of the two German-born coaches, Jozef Zinnbauer and Ernst Middendorp, who are at the helm of the Buccaneers and Amakhosi respectively. The pair will square off for the first time in a match where “Jingles” expects them to put their newly found friendship aside.
“Let’s see who is the smartest German of the two, it is interesting, I will be watching who’s the clever German because that time there is no friendship, it is a derby and you have to make sure that your people are happy. It is not even about the log, it is a derby. So maybe JZ will claim his first derby but Midderndorp might have the experience and he might win,” said Mosimane.
The Masandawana mentor, whose side is defending the Absa Premiership title, seems to be leaning towards Zinnbauer’s corner as he does not want the Glamour Boys to stretch their lead at the top of the log as they trail Chiefs by four points.
“It is a chicken and egg story, you don’t want Pirates to come close to you but you don’t want Chiefs to move away. Pirates have played more games than us, there is probably a cushion there so even if they win it is okay.
“We don’t want the other people to run with it. We have taken it to four points before and we went to sleep. It was 13 points, we brought it to four, it went to seven, it went to nine, back to seven and back to four,” he said.
“I think it is for us now to say we are at four points again and we must not drop the ball. At the end of the day, if Chiefs win all the games remaining, they win the league, so it is not in our hands,” Mosimane added.
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