It's a jungle out there - De Sa

A trip to Kinshasa this weekend will revive bitter memories for Stuart Baxter from his days in charge of Bafana Bafana.

Baxter took the national side to the same venue for a World Cup qualifier in 2004 and it all ended in tears.

Now former Orlando Pirates coach Roger de Sa has some sage counsel for Kaizer Chiefs as they prepare to take on AS Vita Club of the Democratic Republic of Congo in what is a R4-million match.

That is roughly the minimum sum to be earned for reaching the league phase of Africa's top club competition, making the third-round tie the most important game Chiefs are likely to play over the next six months.

They play away in Kinshasa in the first leg on Sunday against a team which commands massive support.

Bafana deserved at least a point but lost to a goal a heart-breaking four minutes from time thanks to former Chiefs striker Kabamba Musasa.

But there was some markedly dodgy refereeing at the Stade des Martyrs that afternoon, including the failure to give South Africa a penalty after the blatant scything-down of Benedict Vilakazi in the box.

Given the intense atmosphere and hostility of the home crowd, the referee patently had no courage, a consistent problem with match officials in charge of games in the Congo. A point from that match might have seen Bafana safely through to the 2006 World Cup finals instead of Ghana's Black Stars.

Had Baxter qualified South Africa for the tournament in Germany, he probably would have been the coach at the 2010 finals as well, which was the plan when he was first appointed. But De Sa suggested that Chiefs should not spend too much time fretting about the officiating and certainly not too much time there at all.

De Sa took Pirates to Lubumbashi at the same stage of last year's competition and saw two penalties awarded against his side by referee Bernard Camille from the Seychelles.

Asked what advice he had for Chiefs ahead of their trip, the new Ajax coach joked: "Don't go! No, seriously, my best piece of advice would be to keep your trip as short as possible and try to control the environment as much as you can."