Some mouth-watering clashes were dished out in the Nedbank Cup quarter-final draw which kicks off on the weekend of 22 April.
One of those clashes is the Mamelodi Sundowns versus Orlando Pirates match which will be played at the Lucas ‘Masterpieces’ Moripe Stadium on 23 April at 8.15pm.
This encounter has already been dubbed as the final before the final. It is no secret that if the organisers had a way of manipulating the draw, they would have engineered this clash to happen in the final, in a similar fashion to the Telkom Knockout which saw the Brazilians against another Soweto giant in the form of Kaizer Chiefs.
In that encounter, the yellow machine was well oiled and cruised to victory with a 3–1 score, leaving Amakhosi fans in tears at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium.
Now this yellow machine is up against another Soweto giant in a cup final rehearsal, and as they say in IsiZulu, zindala zombili angazi iyozala nkomoni (it’s a clash of the titans and the outcome is hard to predict).
But if form and recent history were a decider of matches, then Sundowns would have an edge over the resurgent Pirates as the Brazilians are currently in devastating form in the Absa Premiership.
The yellow machine beat the Mighty Buccaneers 2–1 in the second round of the 2015/16 season on 10 February in an away game at the iconic Orlando Stadium. In the first round, Sundowns beat the Buccaneers 2–0.
The Brazilians have this encounter in the Nedbank Cup quarter-final, an outstanding date with the Bucs, and the big question on everyone’s lips now is whether or not the yellow machine will make it three out of three over the Buccaneers.
The other interesting clash will be the Limpopo derby between struggling Polokwane City and high-riding National First Division giants killing side, Baroka FC.
They are the only outfit outside the premier division still in the competition and they are tipped to make it into the semis at the end of 90 minutes on 24 April at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium.
In other encounters, SuperSport United will open the quarter-final matches with a home game against Mpumalanga Black Aces at the Lucas ‘Masterpieces’ Moripe Stadium on 22 April.
League contenders, Bidvest Wits, will travel to Bethlehem to play Free State Stars at Goble Park on 23 April, with kick-off set for 3pm.
