Chiefs defend their title in the 2nd Gauteng Football Cup

Kaizer Chiefs started their new season preparations with a bang by defending their Gauteng Football Cup title against Bloemfontein Celtic at Loftus Versfeld. The final saw Kaizer Chiefs “middle-field kingpins”, Willard Katsande and Simphiwe Tshabalala, scoring two goals in the first half.  This year’s tournament kicked-off with a semi-final between Bloemfontein Celtic and AmaTuks, with Bloemfontein Celtic knocking out AmaTuks in a penalty shootout.

The Champions continued where they left off in the second half of the final, with Knowledge Musona marking his return to the PSL with a goal.  Kaizer Chiefs walked away with the trophy and R500 000.00.  An amount of R100 000.00 and 5% of ticket sales were donated to Dreamfields, a section 21 company which is dedicated to uplifting communities through sports development in the province.  

The semi-final match was not short of entertainment with Bloemfontein Celtic scoring in the first half.  AmaTuks came back with true grit in the second half and eventually equalised.  Subsequently, the teams went to penalties with Bloemfontein Celtic emerging victorious. 

Tshwane Executive Mayor, Kgosientso Ramokgopa said, “City of Tshwane is proud to once again host a tournament of this magnitude. The teams did not disappoint their fans as they got their money’s worth from both teams who delivered an action packed game”.

“The 2013 Gauteng Football Cup was a success.  We are delighted to have hosted 3 highly competitive teams. Well done to all the players who displayed an abundance of talent on the field and thank you to all supporters who came through to the game”, said Nhlanhla Ngwenya, CEO of Ultimate Sporting Concepts.

“One thing’s for sure, Gauteng has talent! We congratulate Kaizer Chiefs for their sterling performance and would like to wish them well in the next season,” said MEC for Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, Lebogang Maile. “We are positive that they will continue to shine and fly the Gauteng flag and hope to see them again next year as the defending champions in a bigger and better Gauteng Football Cup”.

“The Gauteng Football Cup is growing in leaps in bounds.  We are thankful to our sponsors – the Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation and City of Tshwane – as well as the supporters, who came out in numbers, to celebrate sporting excellence in the province.  We will continue to work hard to grow the tournament by bringing good quality teams and hope that corporate sponsors will see the value and come on board”, concluded Ngwenya.

The Gauteng Football Cup is one of the events of the Gauteng Sports Challenge, a multi-code festival of sport aimed at showcasing and celebrating sporting excellence in the province.   The Challenge brought to you by Ultimate Sporting Concepts, in conjunction with anchor partner, the Gauteng Department of Sport, Arts, Culture and Recreation, also features a 42km and 21km road running meet, the Gauteng Marathon, on 8 September 2013. The City of Tshwane is the host city for the football. Mogale City Municipality is the start host city for the marathon.