Ajax Cape Town at training © Backpagepix

No quarter shall be given nor asked for when these two household names in South African football lock horns in Cape Town. Luckily for both sides it is not do or die as they will get a second bite at their opponents a week later, but in the view of Evans, “Whoever scores first on Saturday will have the upper-hand.”

The Urban Warriors left back is of the opinion that the match will be won in the midfield: “It will be a tough battle in the middle of the park with the likes of Josta Dladla, Tinashe Nengomasha and David Mathebula roaming those parts, but our midfield is up for the challenge and we will get a result.”

In line with that thinking, Evans will be glad that both Reneilwe Letsholonyane and Siphiwe Tshabalala will miss the first leg semifinal due to injury. Chiefs will also be without their Venezuelan striker, Jose Torrealba.

Evans further admits, “We have studied the game tapes of Chiefs match against Santos and from what we've seen they struggled to break down the Santos defence. Things will only be tougher against us. Also Santos didn’t do much attacking, which we are planning on doing.”

In their history against one another, the two teams have faced off six times in cup competition with the Amakhosi winning three and Ajax winning three (one of which went to penalties). In those six games they have produced 12 goals and according to Evans the fans can expect more of the same. “We will play attacking football. Both sides have attacking wingers and the game is bound to be exciting.”

One of the positives in the Urban Warriors’ column is the fact that their current coach, Muhsin Ertugral, ended his tenure as the Glamour Boys’ coach at the end of last season. Hence, Ertugral will have some inside knowledge of how things work at Chiefs. “Having Muhsin as our coach is a big factor; he knows the players and he knows how they play,” says Evans.

Despite Ertugral being Chiefs’ former coach, Abia Nale does not believe it will make any difference to the Soweto Giants. “It is a game like any other. Psychologically, some players might want to prove a point to Muhsin, but there is nothing to prove. We are going to Cape Town to beat Ajax.”

Nale insists that things are not the same at Naturena since Ertugral’s departure. “Things have changed: we have a new coach now and our style of play is different, and some players are playing in different positions. Admittedly it won’t be easy because he does know us, but we will still treat it like any other game.”

Recently Chiefs have had the better of their Cape Town opponents, drawing 0-0 and beating them 2-0 in the PSL last season, but on both those occasions Ertugral was at their helm. Another blow to Ajax will be the fact that they are without Nazeer Allie and Sifiso Vilakazi due to injury. Sameehg Doutie is also unlikely to play as he has missed training this week due to flu.

“If we win this competition it is R8 million and we will do what ever it takes to win,” concludes Evans.