14-man Kaizer Chiefs beat Mamelodi Sundowns

Disclaimer: This blog is not about the hatred, dislike or favoritism of any team. It is purely about the “psychological” aspects of playing against Chiefs, reflecting on the MTN8 cup final.

There can be no denying that Kaizer Chiefs is arguably the most successful team in South African football. On Tuesday night they scraped yet another penalty shoot-out win against arch-rivals Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8 Cup competition, a feat which will indeed go a long way in entrenching their dominance in the local league.

However, the unspoken truth is that playing against Chiefs — especially in a major game – is a tough psychological battle. No other team in this country can match the lethal, multi-pronged attack Chiefs enjoys.

The 12th man — media

Unlike any other games, the first whistle of a match against Chiefs gets blown in the media. The amount of media coverage Chiefs enjoy — as compared to their opponents — can only send one very strong message: “Chiefs is going to win; you are going to lose!” As a result, the opposition goes through weeks of preparation having to cope with and accept a loudly trumpeted opinion that they have no chance against the mighty Amakhosi.

Some in the media claim that a Chiefs headline moves the sales, thus the tendency to creatively solicit stories around the team from any possible angle. So long as the headline screams “AMAKHOSI”, then the sales and ratings will rocket. This particular theory is so broadly-held, such that when Chiefs lose a match, the coverage is centered NOT on the loss, but on Gary Goldstone’s unfortunate elbow incident. I guess one can also assume that a Chiefs loss is inversely bad for media sales.

The 13th man — supporters

With such an enthusiastic and cost effective media public relations exercise, it is no wonder that Kaizer Chiefs has the largest supporter base out of all 16 PSL teams. On the day of the match, these supporters become a very vital 13th man on the field. The support Chiefs enjoys has prompted many people to bravely make a claim that the team never plays an away game.

Looking back at Tuesday night’s game, I have no reason to doubt that the PSL knew that according to their records, Chiefs has always enjoyed the biggest support at Durban’s ABSA stadium. It was primarily for this reason that some soccer supporters questioned the wisdom of taking two Gauteng clubs — who also happen to play their home games in Tshwane — to play a match thousands of kilometres away in KwaZulu-Natal.

The 14th man – the referee

Despite having to worry about Chiefs’ all time talented squad, history has also taught opposition teams never to take the factor of the middle man for granted. To put it in lame terms, if it is to be accepted that referees are human and they make mistakes, our referees have proved “over time” that they become “too human” when it comes to Kaizer Chiefs.

I discussed these particular matters some time back with a famous radio DJ who also happens to be a staunch Chiefs fan. I must confess that his take on the matter somehow helped me to deal with reality and possibly accept it. He said to me that I must acknowledge that these referees, journalists etc. grew up supporting soccer and like all of us, also had their favorite teams. Thus they can only be objective and professional to a certain extent.

I don’t know, but maybe what I appreciated more was the fact that he never bothered to deny reality.