Kaizer Chiefs sporting director Kaizer Motaung Junior's proclamation that Mamelodi Sundowns can be caught seems rather far-fetched.
“This is football. If there is anybody who knows that the league is not won at this stage, it’s us,” he said.
“At one stage we were 15 points clear of Sundowns, at the same mark. Everyone knows what happened in 2019, we lost it with 30 minutes to go. So, we will continue fighting, we will continue having hope.”
There are numerous issues with these statements.
For one, it could be taken as an insult by Chiefs fans, who are wise enough to know their team are miles behind Sundowns - not only in points, but also in quality.
Then there's the maths - Motaung talks about Chiefs having been 15 points ahead of Sundowns in 2019/ 2020 before losing the league to the Pretoria side.
By most accounts, that number was 13, not 15.
BackpagepixAs things stand, Amakhosi are a massive 19 points behind Downs. And what happened three years ago was a rare, rare exception, unlikely to be repeated. There was also the Covid-19 interruption which played a big part in derailing Ernst Middendorp's Chiefs side that season.
There was also the fact that Sundowns ended the 19/20 season by winning 10 matches in a row, not something one can see the current Chiefs team achieving. More so after their own head coach, Arthur Zwane, said that Amakhosi are in a rebuilding phase.
The 2019/20 title triumph was an exceptional, once-in-a-generation, if not a lifetime, achievement by Sundowns.
To state that it's possible for Amakhosi to still challenge for the title at the same time insinuates that Mamelodi Sundowns will have a major, massive collapse - which is surely disrespectful to Masandawana, a team and club getting stronger and stronger.
Surely it would have been better not to mention the league title race at all. Or if pressed on the matter, a bit of realism might have helped.
Motaung Jr may have been better served saying something along the lines of:
"Our focus is on second place, trying to ensure Champions League qualification for next season. Let's see if we can achieve that, try close the gap on Sundowns a bit, and then renew our challenge next season."
The current talk of the title race still being on will make it hard for Chiefs supporters to believe anything the club tells them.
It should also give Sundowns good motivation to come out and put Amakhosi in their place on Saturday night.
