KAIZER Chiefs desperately need to win the Nedbank Cup!
But TS Galaxy of stars want to continue making history and will not allow Chiefs to walk all over them in the Nedbank Cup final scheduled for Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium on 18 May.
Chiefs secured their date with Galaxy on Saturday night with a nervy but emphatic 4-2 victory against Chippa United, which was played at Port Elizabeth’s Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
This followed hours after Dan Malesela led his Galaxy of stars to a convincing 3-1 thrashing of PSL side Golden Arrows.
Malesela tells SunSport that this is one match that they must win at all costs in order not to disappoint their hordes of “red army” from Mpumalanga.
“TS Galaxy need this,” Malesela reacted on Sunday morning.
He says the 2019 Ke Yona Cup will be taken by the team that have fully prepared for it.
“It will all come to who is ready,” he said.
“This (qualifying for the final) is what we wanted. Honestly, all the clubs that took part in this competition wanted to win something. This is the first team from the lower division to have reached the tournament’s final, as far as I can remember, but I stand to be corrected. Most of the teams ended in the semis. This is history. And we might make it. It is in our hands now."
He confessed that his immediate wish, after their win against Arrows, was to meet Chippa in the final.
He added: “But be as it may, Chiefs are very good too. Their supporters will surely dominate us, but our supporters will be there in their numbers too, clad in our traditional red on the other side of the stadium. It will be Chiefs’ traditional yellow and gold on the other side and our red on the other. Honestly NFD teams can compete in the field.”
He said he anticipates a good spectacle driven by “open play and no parking of the bus”.
He joked that why would Chiefs want to wear the gold medals on their neck whereas they are already clad in gold?
“We need that gold (medal) to mix it up with our red,” he said.
“Anyway, for us it is already victory being in the final and we have the medal, so we just need to fight for the colour (of the medal).”
The team, owned by former player agent and practising lawyer, Tim Sukazi, have already started with plans to gear up for their tight league schedule this week.
On Wednesday they have Stellenbosch away before hosting TS Sporting next Sunday.
“We have no serious injuries but just fatigue after playing for 120 minutes. We need to manage our players well for Wednesday and next weekend.”
