Johannesburg - The irony would not be lost on the discerning soccer follower that Marumo Gallants’ nomadic ways in their Caf Confederation Cup campaign is a mirror image of the route Jomo Cosmos took on their “African safari” 30 years ago.
And they would thus be forgiven for fearing the worst for the Limpopo side as they go into the semi-final first leg of the continent’s second-tier club competition this afternoon.
Gallants take on Tanzania’s Young Africans at the Benjamin Mkapa Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday (3pm kickoff) looking to go one step further than Ezenkosi did in the Caf Cup Winners’ Cup in 1993.
Like Cosmos, Gallants have played their home matches at different venues this year as they defied the odds to reach the semis. And similarly, the two teams’ continental participation had a detrimental effect on their domestic showing.
None of the Gallants players are old enough to have witnessed Cosmos reaching the semi-finals only to come a cropper against Asec Mimosas, the Ivorians smashing Ezenkosi 5-1 on aggregate. The football aficionados among them though, should be aware that Cosmos were relegated following that brilliant continental run and would be keen not to follow same route.
Raymond Mdaka and his team are in danger of the drop from the Premiership as they languish in the relegation zone, with just one match to go. They are in 14th spot with 29 points, three more than bottom-placed Maritzburg United who still have two matches to complete their campaign. Chippa United are 15th with 29 points, but they can still add six points to their tally should they win their remaining matches.
What Gallants have going for them is a superior goal difference that those two teams are unlikely to better and they will pin their hopes on neither Maritzburg nor Chippa being victorious in both their remaining fixtures.
Premiership survival will, however, be furthest from their minds today as they focus on getting a good first-leg result against a team that – just like them – are surprise semifinalists in the competition. Few would have bet on either of the two team going far in the competition, least of all reach the semi-finals. But continental football is fickle at the top and a team’s record or standing often counts for nothing.
In the previous round the smart money was on Egypt’s Pyramids to get the better of Gallants, and you can bet only Young Africans’ fans would have believed they would overcome Rivers United of Nigeria. They defied the odds though, and both would be keen to go one step further to carve an indelible name for themselves in their respective club’s annals.
Gallants have already outdone themselves, but why not go all the way and become only the second South African side after Kaizer Chiefs to win Africa’s secondary club knockout competition?
Sure, their campaign so far has an uncanny resemblance to that of Jomo Cosmos back in 1993, but it does not have to end the same way – does it?
@Tshiliboy
IOL Sport