Stuart Baxter could become the first coach in South African football history to win the Nedbank Cup on three occasions if his SuperSport United side are successful against Orlando Pirates in the tournament decider on June 24.
Baxter‚ who will link up permanently with the South African national team after the final‚ has already lifted the Nedbank Cup trophy twice‚ with Kaizer Chiefs in 2013 and SuperSport last season.
He is part of a select group of 12 coaches to have achieved that feat‚ but no-one has yet claimed a hat-trick of wins.
It would be a fine way to sign-off for Baxter‚ who also has two league titles and an MTN8 win since he started coaching int he PSL with Chiefs in 2012.
- Newly crowned champions Wits planning to ensure miserable end to the season for ailing ChiefsIf you thought Gavin Hunt would take it easier on his men at Bidvest Wits on the training ground now they have become Absa Premiership champions‚ you would have been mistaken.
His current SuperSport side lost in the Telkom Knockout final earlier this season to Cape Town City.
Of the 12 coaches who have multiple Nedbank Cup competition wins‚ aside from Baxter‚ two are still with PSL clubs – Gavin Hunt (BidVest Wits) and Pitso Mosimane (Mamelodi Sundowns).
Others include Ted Dumitru (Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs) and Muhsin Ertugral (Chiefs and Ajax Cape Town).
- Can rudderless Orlando Pirates avert crisis and steer their ship to calmer waters?There have been so many “turning points” in Orlando Pirates’ miserable season that the club has spent the better part of this campaign looking like a dog chasing its own tail.
It was a more common occurrence in the early days of the competition‚ which was launched in 1971‚ as Chiefs coach Thomas Johnson won the first two titles.
Club owner Kaizer Motaung was co-coach for the second of those‚ and won the trophy again as AmaKhosi head coach in 1977.
Pirates’ back-to-back wins in 1974 and 1975 were engineered by coach Tony Sanderson‚ while Eddie Lewis won the title with Wits University (1978) and Moroka Swallows (1989)‚ the longest wait for a second victory.
- Pirates set up cup final date with SuperSport after brushing past Arrows in the semisOrlando Pirates’s 80th anniversary celebrations appear to be back on track‚ at least for the time being‚ after the Bucs beat Golden Arrows 1-0 to reach the final of the Nedbank Cup at the Princess Magogo Stadium in Durban on Sunday afternoon.
Elkiam Khumalo‚ the father of Chiefs legend Doctor Khumalo‚ collected the title with AmaKhosi in 1976 and 1981‚ while Mario Tuani did likewise with Chiefs in 1979 and Moroka Swallows in 1983.
Finally‚ Roy Matthews lifted the trophy with Jomo Cosmos (1990) and SuperSport United (1999).
- TMG Digital/TMG Sport
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