Windhoek
It’s not dubbed the mother of all derbies in domestic football for nothing! Adrenaline-pumping action will take centre stage as domestic football returns to action this weekend.
A mouth-watering clash has been placed on the menu as both title-chasing Black Africa and reigning MTC Premiership champions African Stars resume their rivalry in the pick of the weekend’s fixtures.
When Katutura giants BA and Stars lock horns, households and relatives gets divided, lovers are forced into temporary separations, and everything else comes to a virtual standstill.
There will be little love lost when two of the country’s most popular football clubs confront each at Windhoek’s Independence Stadium in a potential MTC Premiership title decider, with very little separating the two teams going into tonight’s clash of the titans.
BA’s mentor, Woody Jacobs, will be sitting on the opposite bench, as he leads the four-time MTC Premiership champions against his former team, which he steered to a league title triumph last term – having masterminded the defeat of his current employers. The Reds are still smarting from their league defeat against eternal rivals and fellow title contenders Tigers who inflicted Stars’ first defeat in the current term. It was certainly a bitter pill to swallow for the Reds’ new mentor, Bobby Samaria, who otherwise would have been quite happy to put one over his former paymasters, following his acrimonious exit from the Donkerhoek outfit.
On the contrary, the Gemengde outfit will be determined to protect and preserve their unbeaten run after seven rounds of matches, while victory over their bitter rivals would see BA leapfrog log leaders Tigers into the top spot – at least for 24-hours before Ingwe returns to action.
Jacobs is fully aware of the task that awaits his charges, but remains confident, saying his team does not want to play catch-up and needs to win matches like these. “It does not come bigger than this one. It’s a very important match for us against classy opponents. We need to stay calm and control the match, because victory will go a long way in defining our title credentials”.
The BA gaffer revealed that utility defender Denzil Hoaseb is a serious doubt for selection, as he fights against time to recover from a head injury suffered on national duty. Apart from Haoseb’s injury woes, Jacobs reported a clean bill of health among his playing personnel.