If their history of the Telkom Knockout is anything to go by, Orlando Pirates could go into their match against Kaizer Chiefs this coming weekend seen as the underdogs.
Chiefs and Pirates will play their TKO semi-final match at Durban’s Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday. The Buccaneers have never won a match against Amakhosi in the competition, over the years.
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The two giants of South African football have played six times in the previous editions of the prestigious competition and Chiefs have had the better of Bucs in all of those times.
In 1983, during the second year of the competition and when it was still known as the Datsun Challenge, Chiefs had beaten Pirates on their way to defeating Wits University 2-1 in the Final.
In 1992, Chiefs knocked out Pirates with a 3-2 final score when the competition was still known as the Coca-Cola Cup.
During the 1998/99 season, when the competition was still known as the Rothmans Cup, Chiefs beat Bucs 3-1 in the first leg of their two-legged semi-final, and while Bucs won the second leg match 1-0 they still exited the competition with 3-2 aggregate final score.
In the 2009/10 season, under the current name, Telkom Knockout, Chiefs beat Bucs 3-0 after penalty shoot-outs, after they finished regulation time deadlocked at 0-0 in their semi-final match.
In 2010, the two powerhouses of Mzansi football played in the Final and Amakhosi emerged as 3-0 winners at FNB Stadium, courtesy of goals from Sthembiso Ngcobo (two) and Siphiwe Tshabalala.
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The last time Chiefs and Bucs met in the TKO was during the 2015 semi-final as Amakhosi won 6-5 on penalties after the match ended 0-0 on regulation time.
Following Pirates’ 2-1 win over Chiefs from their Absa Premiership Soweto Derby played at the end of last month, Bucs’ fans will hope that they will finally see a win for their side against perennial rivals in this competition, under the tutelage of Milutin Sredojevic and Rulani Mokwena.
