The stage is set for one of the most iconic football derby’s in Africa as Kaizer Chiefs take on bitter rivals Orlando Pirates at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg this afternoon.
According to Amakhosi communications manager Vina Maphosa, tickets for the derby have already been sold out for the 166th meeting between the two sides. A crowd of 87,500 is expected to grace the game which kicks-off at 3:30pm.
Pirates’ head coach, Milutin Sredojevic, tried to play down his side’s title chances urging his players to approach the game with humility and respect towards their opponents who currently lie in position eight of the PSL league table.
“There is still too much to be played, this match will not finish and will not start the dream for us to be league champions. With respect to our fans, the badge and the jersey, we will do our best to get a positive result on Saturday.”
The two Soweto based sides first played each other in 24 January 1970. The rivalry stems from the fact that Kaizer Chiefs was formed by a former Orlando Pirates star Kaizer Motaung.
Motaung had left Orlando Pirates to go play professional soccer in the now defunct North American Soccer League for a team called the Atlanta Chiefs.
Upon returning home, he found a lot of infighting among the hierarchy at Pirates. He decided to form a Kaizer XI, which initially played friendly matches with various clubs in South Africa and then this entity evolved to the Kaizer Chiefs.
