When Giants Collide: Pirates v Sundowns

Saturday will see last year's two most successful sides in South African football clash head-to-head in the MTN8.

They play their semifinal first leg tie at the Orlando Stadium at 3 pm, with all tickets already long sold.

The return game will be next weekend and the winner advances to the final in mid-September to take on either Sekhukhune United or Stellenbosch.

HEAD-TO-HEAD

Saturday mark the 115th clash between the two clubs with Sundowns having a healthy lead in the win count 47-34.

A further 33 matches have been drawn.

Sundowns have scored 150 goals against Pirates and conceded 109.

The teams have met in 14 matches in the MTN8 competition overall, 10 at the semifinal stage to go with two quarterfinals and two finals.

Pirates edge the record in those 14 MTN8 games.

They have five wins to four for Sundowns, to go with five draws.

Daniel Mudau, who is still Sundowns’ all-time top scorer, is the leading marksman in this fixture with 12 goals, while of the current crop Peter Shalulile has netted five for the Brazilians against the Buccaneers.

SILVERWARE

Between them, Pirates and Sundowns have collected a total of 57 cup trophies over the last five decades of professional football in the country.

In the top eight, Pirates are way ahead of Sundowns, although they admittedly have a 15-year head start, having competed in the first competition in 1972 while Sundowns qualified first in 1986.

Pirates have 13 successes in the top eight stretching back to their first in 1972, while Sundowns have managed only four successes in some 40 years of competing, which is a poor return by their high standards.

Pirates and Sundowns are the only two South African teams to have won the top prize on the continent.

Pirates took the old-style African Champions Cup in 1995 and Sundowns were Champions League winners 21 years later.

MEMORABLE MATCHES

1990: Pirates 1 Sundowns 6

This Top Eight Cup quarterfinal tie was the second game of a double header at Soccer City to mark the start of the new season and saw Sundowns romp to a four-goal lead by halftime as Bennett Masinga scored after three minutes and then added a penalty, and Harold Legodi and Lovemore Chafunya got two more.

Pirates’ new coach, Dave Roberts, replaced the hapless Brazilian goalkeeper Roberto Bitencourt with Innocent Mayoyo at halftime and pulled one goal back through Tebogo Moloi, but Sundowns ensured a record defeat for the Buccaneers when Legodi and Ernest Mtawali scored late.

1998: Pirates 1 Sundowns 1

The BoB Save Super Bowl final played to a 1-1 draw and had to be replayed but was postponed until after the World Cup in France, where Bafana Bafana competed for the first time.

It was a bizarre situation with, effectively, the last game of the previous season being completed while the new campaign had already begun and the game again ended 1-1, with Sundowns then taking the trophy 6-5 on penalties after extra time.

In so doing, they became only the third side to achieve the league and cup double in the NSL era.

2011: Pirates 3 Sundowns 2

The first leg of the MTN8 semifinal saw Pirates come from 2-1 down to score twice in the closing stages and take a lead to the second leg, which ended 1-1 and meant they went through to the final 4-3 on aggregate.

At the Orlando Stadium, Thulasizwe Mbuyane scored first to give the hosts the lead, which Moeneeb Joseph then sought to protect by saving Katlego Mphela’s penalty but could not stop the Sundowns striker burying the rebound.

Musa Nyatama made it 2-1 to Sundowns, but in the closing stages Tlou Segolela snapped up a loose clearance to hammer home on the half volley and then Bongani Ndulula sent Wayne Sandilands the wrong way with a decisive penalty.

2017: Sundowns 6 Pirates 0

A new record defeat for the Buccaneers, sparking an ugly riot from frustrated supporters at Loftus Versfeld.

It took 20 minutes for Sundowns to open the scoring through Themba Zwane and then Percy Tau added a second for Sundowns two minutes before the interval.

The Buccs conceded a penalty in the 62nd minute, and Ricardo Nascimento made no mistake from the spot.

It was soon 4-0 as Thapelo Morena fired home just before the 70th minute.

The last two goals from Morena and Tau then sparked the riot, which held up the game for more than a half hour before it could be resumed and finished.

Coach Augusto Palacios lasted two more games after that before being replaced by Kjell Jonevret from Sweden.

2022: Sundowns 0 Pirates 3

Sundowns were hot favourites in the second leg of the MTN8 semifinal, with home advantage at Loftus Versfeld, having held Pirates to a goalless draw in the first game at the Orlando Stadium.

But Pirates pulled off a shock as Kermit Erasmus netted early in the first half before Monnapule Saleng sealed the victory with two late goals for the Buccaneers.

It took eight minutes before Saleng found space on the right and used his trickery to beat Aubrey Modiba before crossing for Erasmus to head home.

Pirates then held their hosts at bay, restricting their chances to fire shots at goalkeeper Siyabonga Mpontshane in the first half but having some good fortune after the break when substitute Neo Maema shot just wide on the hour mark.

As time began to run out, Sundowns were left with little option but to throw caution to the wind, allowing Pirates to counter-attack.

Zakhele Lepasa set up Saleng for a 2-0 scoreline. Modiba was then shown a red card for kicking out at Saleng, who added the third.

CROSSING THE LINE

Pirates and Sundowns have shared a total of eight coaches over the years, starting with Walter da Silva.

The Brazilian first came to South Africa in the 1960s from Barcelona to play at Highlands Powerlines, and after his playing days were done, he started coaching in 1975 at Moroka Swallows.

He had already coached at Vaal Professionals, Lusitano, and Pirates when he took the Sundowns job in the early 1980s.

Stanley Tshabalala brought a flavour and razzmatazz to Sundowns, while Mario Tuane helped Sundowns to their first league title in 1988 after he had previously worked at both Kaizer Chiefs and Pirates.

Augusto Palacios and Ted Dumitru also had the distinction of coaching all three glamour clubs.

Russian coach Viktor Bondarenko first worked at Pirates, then Swallows, but his time at Sundowns was short.

Gordon Igesund won the league with Pirates in 2001 and Sundowns in 2007.

Rulani Mokwena struggled as a head coach in a short stint with Pirates and Chippa, but with the resources at Sundowns, he delivered a clean sweep of trophies.