The journey of holding onto the honour of being the kings of South African football begins on Tuesday evening for Mamelodi Sundowns and there's probably no better fixture than the one they have lined up.
The Tshwane giants start the Betway Premiership campaign against city rivals SuperSport United, who have not had much action in competitive matches over the last month or so, compared to Sundowns.
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Sundowns have had some competitive action in the MTN8 and CAF Champions League, while SuperSport's only official game was a top eight quarter-final clash against Soweto giants Orlando Pirates, last month.
Despite having more action, Aubrey Modiba feels it will be important that Sundowns does not underestimate their opponents because derbies are a different ball game.
"We know the Tshwane derby. It's about bragging rights in Pretoria. It's not going to be easy. I have managed to be on both side. When I was at SuperSport, I played against Sundowns and we were always looking forward to the game because they were rivals in the same area. It's going to be a tough one, (but) I think we are ready for the task. They have not played in a long time, but that does not count. At the end of the day, derbies are different, derbies are special. We are looking forward to that game. We are going to put up a fight and try by all means to get the points," Modiba said.
Sundowns collected four points from SuperSport last season as they continued their dominance over their rivals. The Brazilians have dominated the encounter over the years and what Modiba enjoys the most is the fact that it hardly ends goalless.
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"What I like about the Tshwane derby is that there's always goals. It's rare that it ends 0-0 and that shows the importance of the game and how much each team wants to win. Our supporters must come in numbers so that we can make them proud. It's nice to always hear them singing and cheering for us. Hopefully we can get the win for them."
