MTN8 semis pit coaches against old clubs

30 August 2016 - 09:53 By Mark Gleeson

There will be reunions for some of the coaches when the MTN8 semifinals are played next month after Chippa United were drawn against league champions Mamelodi Sundowns and new boys Cape Town City were paired with Bidvest Wits. Dan "Dance" Malesela, who spent time as head of the Sundowns academy, returns to take on the club he also captained, with his Chippa team earning rave reviews after outplaying Platinum Stars in their quarterfinal tie away at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace on Saturday."'Dance' is a new sensation," said Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane."He has his own philosophy of the game and we saw Chippa play Platinum Stars off the park. When they have the ball they look so good. He is a very good coach, we were sad to see him go at Sundowns."I heard Jerry Sikhosana say on TV that we (Sundowns) frustrated him but that is rubbish. We loved him," said Mosimane of Malesela.City's coach, Eric Tinkler, takes on Wits, where he earned his coaching spurs, setting up their academy and also having his first stint as a head coach when he stepped in as caretaker for eight matches in 2007."I've come to something completely new with the Cape Town City project and to be part of it and building is very exciting," Tinkler said. "At Wits, I enjoyed the challenge of setting up the academy. It was a great learning experience."The Premier Soccer League are due to release the dates and venues for both legs of the semifinals in the next few days. ..

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