Kaizer Chiefs caretaker coach Cavin Johnson has taunted bitter rivals Orlando Pirates ahead of Saturday’s Soweto Derby.
This week’s derby will be the 180th derby in history, and has a special meaning as both teams are only separated by one point on the log.
There is an added incentive for both sides, as the winner will move into second place on the log ahead of the rest of fixtures being played.
Ahead of the battle for bragging rights, Bertie Grobbelaar from Stadium Management confirmed that just over 9,000 general access tickets are still available.
In the official pre-match press conference, Johnson couldn’t resist to send a small jibe at their bitter rivals, who are the hosts of the fixture.
“We have prepared ourselves well for this particular derby. And we’re going to go out and enjoy ourselves in front of the 100,000 that we expect to come. I’m sure about 99,000 will be Chiefs fans but we expect that and we’re going to go out and do our best,”he said with a smile.
Johnson, who goes into his second derby as Chiefs coach after losing the reverse fixture 1-0, also spoke of his pride to be on the sidelines for one of Africa’s biggest clashes.
“It’s always a big, big, big, big honor to be able to play in this particular Derby, classified as one of the top 10 in the world, you don’t get many,” he added.
“And when you’re the coach of such a big institution like Kaizer Chiefs, and you’re playing against another big institution like Orlando Pirates, it is always an honor.
“And the preparation that goes into this type of game is always very, I’d like to take the word intense away from it because in the end it’s about football, and where we come from we all enjoyed football playing when we’re young. So we need to take that same energy into the game, and enjoy the game from both sides.
“But we do know that we have to fight for the bragging rights of the derby within the African continent.”
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