The semi-final line-up for the Carling Knockout Cup has been officially confirmed following a dramatic weekend of quarter-final action. Football fans across South Africa had been bracing for a potential Soweto Derby, but the luck of the draw has kept the two giants on opposite sides of the bracket.
Soweto giants kept apart in final four
The anticipation for a titanic clash between South Africa’s biggest rivals was at an all-time high as the balls were drawn at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Sunday evening.
Instead, the draw has thrown up a mouth-watering encounter between Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs. Masandawana were the first side to secure their progression to this stage, having narrowly defeated Golden Arrows 1-0 in their midweek fixture to set the pace for the remaining quarter-finalists.
Orlando Pirates, the defending champions of the Carling Knockout, also booked their spot in the final four with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Sekhukhune United on Saturday.
According to the latest tournament updates the semi-final fixtures promise high-stakes drama as the remaining four teams battle for a place in the prestigious final. The results have ensured that a Soweto Derby can now only take place in the tournament showpiece.
Stellenbosch FC will provide the opposition for Orlando Pirates in the second semi-final match.
Dates and time TBC
Dates and venues for these semi-final fixtures will be announced by the Premier Soccer League in due course. However, a gap in the domestic calendar on the first weekend after the international break, on November 21 and 22, look the most likely dates available. Fans are now eagerly awaiting the schedule, with the dream of an all-Soweto final still mathematically possible if both Chiefs and Pirates can win their respective matches.
Biography: I studied journalism at Rhodes University and began my career writing features for a variety of entertainment magazines. I soon moved from print to digital and began focusing on sports when I joined the Perform Group in 2014. After covering such diverse sports stories as the Oscar Pistorius trial and aeroplanes full of cash heading to the Ghana men's national team at the Brazil World Cup, I began to focus exclusively on football and GOAL.
My Football Story: I'm a lifelong Spurs fan who found himself a long way from Tottenham. I once dreamed of winning the Ballon d'Or as a goalkeeper but discovered I was better at stringing sentences together than I was at world-class saves.
Areas of Expertise:
- PSL (South African domestic league)
- Tottenham Hotspur
- African continental competitions at club and international level
Favourite football memory: The one thing I desperately wanted to achieve as a goalkeeper was to score a goal. In my second-last match before retiring, on a windy, freezing Joburg winter pitch I launched the ball long and one bounce off that rock hard pitch and it looped over their keeper and in! I am not ashamed to admit I celebrated more than if I'd scored a winner in the World Cup final.
