Johan Neeskens, ex-Mamelodi Sundowns coach, October 2012Backpagepix

Nedbank Cup: What happened last time Mamelodi Sundowns and Bloemfontein Celtic met in Cup final?

Mamelodi Sundowns and Bloemfontein Celtic meet in Saturday's Nedbank Cup final at Orlando Stadium. 

And this will be only the second meeting between the two sides in a Cup final in less than a decade.  

But what happened the last time both Sundowns and Celtic clashed in a Cup final?

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Mogorosi's controversial goal 

Bloemfontein Celtic attacker Joel MogorosiGetty Images

It was in December 2012 when Sundowns took on Celtic at Moses Mabhida Stadium with the odds stacked heavily against the Bloemfontein-based in the Telkom Knockout Cup final. 

However, Celtic held their own against a star-studded side that was coached Johan Neeskens at the time. 

A controversial Joel Mogorosi strike in the 47th-minute settled the outcome as Celtic walked away with a whopping R4.7 million. 

The goal which wasn't supposed to stand caused an uproar for years with Sundowns fans feeling hard done by, by match officials on the day. 

Wayne Sandilands, then on the books of Sundowns, missed a cross from the right-hand side and the ball fell to Mogorosi who headed the ball towards an empty net. 

Clayton Daniels, also formerly of Sundowns, cleared the ball before it could cross the line but the match officials on the day felt it was a goal - and they awarded it. 

A television replay showed that the whole ball had not crossed the line when Daniels made contact with it and, therefore, it wasn't the right call - but there was no way to change the decision after the match as the trophy had already been handed to Celtic. 

And it is important to note that it was before Pitso Mosimane's era which has wiped those from the fans by winning 10 trophies since that disastrous season for the Brazilians.

Neskeens fired by Sundowns

Johan Neeskens, BarcelonaGetty Images

The Dutch mentor had led Sundowns to 49 matches prior to that TKO final in Durban - meaning this was his 50th match in charge of the club. 

And it proved to be his last as Sundowns fans and management expressed dissatisfaction at the club's struggles under Neeskens even with the kind of players the club had bought. 

So, the Barcelona legend was fired soon after the loss to Phunya Sele Sele with Mosimane assuming the role of head coach as he wasn't attached to any team at the time. 

Neeskens left Sundowns with 50 matches under his belt as a coach. He won 18, lost 16 and drew 16 of those.

And one of his mandates was to deliver at least one trophy that season but he couldn't achieve it. 

As a result, Sundowns had no choice but to show him the exit door after that 1-0 defeat to Siwelele.   

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