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Now for the league

VICTORIOUS: Kaizer Chiefs players celebrate after winning the MTN 8 final against Mamelodi Sundowns at the Absa Stadium in Durban on Tuesday night. Pic. Chris Ricco. 236/09/2008. © Backpagepix
VICTORIOUS: Kaizer Chiefs players celebrate after winning the MTN 8 final against Mamelodi Sundowns at the Absa Stadium in Durban on Tuesday night. Pic. Chris Ricco. 236/09/2008. © Backpagepix

Ramatsiyi Moholoa

Ramatsiyi Moholoa

Kaizer Chiefs have laid a perfect foundation to challenge for the Premiership title after brushing aside Mamelodi Sundowns to grab the R8 million prize.

This is the prediction of Chiefs chairman Kaizer Motaung after his club won the maiden MTN 8 final.

Amakhosi defeated The Brazilians 4-3 on penalties at a packed Kings Park Stadium on Tuesday to become the new Wafa Wafa competition champions.

Now there is no difference between Sundowns and teams like Orlando Pirates, Ajax Cape Town, Santos and Free State Stars that were eliminated in the first round of this top-eight tournament.

The runners-up and the rest of teams, will each receive R800000.

Unlike Chiefs, Sundowns had promised that the R8 million prize would be shared by their players.

"The boys did a great job by winning the inaugural tournament, I must say it was a tough game," said an elated Motaung.

"The game could have gone either way when you consider that both teams missed quite a number of scoring opportunities.

"It was real Wafa Wafa, at the end being decided on penalties. There is no doubt that the supporters got their money's worth."

Motaung also commended the thousands of spectators who turned in big numbers for a midweek game, which was initially postponed due to heavy rains on Saturday. "We all know that since the past weekend, the mood (political climate) in the country was not good, so we gave the people something to cheer about," said Motaung without elaborating.

The Chiefs' chief said now that Wafa Wafa was already in the bag, the next biggest challenge for them is the Absa Premiership title.

Some Chiefs' supporters were beginning to lose hope after their favourite club suffered three consecutive defeats prior to Saturday's final.

In his message to the supporters, Motaung said: "We need to be patient because the league is a marathon. It's a very tough season but the league remains our target."

Sundowns are expected to be charged for failing to make themselves available for the post-match interviews as per PSL media manual requirements.

They are reported to have informed the league representatives after the match that they were still being addressed by club president Patrice Motsepe.

Sundowns, who had Zambian Collins Mbesuma finally making his official debut, dominated but squandered several golden opportunities. The main culprits were Mbesuma, Lerato Chabangu and Surprise Moriri.

Chiefs also had a share of their misses where the likes of Thuso Phala, Gert Schalkwyk and Jose Torrealba appeared to have left their scoring boots at home.

Credit should also go to goalkeepers Brian Baloyi (Sundowns) and Itumeleng Khune (Chiefs), who kept a clean slate until the final whistle of extra time.

During the penalty shoot-out, Esrom Nyandoro and substitute Thando Mngomeni missed for Sundowns, while Osnimor Bhasera fluffed one for Amakhosi.

Scorers were Torrealba, Schalkwyk, Siphiwe Tshabalala and Reneilwe Letsholonyane (Chiefs), Moriri, Chabangu and Mbulelo Mabizela (Downs).

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