The Premier Soccer League announced the return of the Diski Shield tournament which will see the top eight teams from last season competing for the Cup at the Wits Stadium on Saturday, 9 July. Masandawana have been drawn against Orlando Pirates in the quarter-final of the knock-out tournament that serves as pre-season preparations for the PSL reserve league teams. Downs Diski team Coach, Surprise Moriri reflected on the planning for the tournament.
“The preparations have been going well, we’ve had five weeks of preparation and also looking at some of the players that we have brought in from M-Tigers just to strengthen the team. The team is looking good and we will see on Saturday how it goes, it’s our first official game.”
The young Brazilians qualified to participate in the prestigious tournament when they wrapped up the 2021/22 season in seventh position, an unpleasant season for a team that is known to be one of the giants in the Diski Challenge. Bafana Ba Style Coach is assured of a turnaround in performance for the upcoming season.
“We have to fight for the Championship , we took stock of what happened last season and we know exactly where it went wrong and this season that’s why we are looking at improving our performances to make sure that we compete.”
“We had some of our players from the Diski team that we sent out to help the U/18 team in the Engen knockout tournament, they had a good run but were unfortunate to have lost in the final. We are looking at bringing some of the players from the U/18 closer to us, there are a couple of players that we are very impressed with.”
Mamelodi Sundowns lock horns with Orlando Pirates in the Diski Shield tournament at Wits on Saturday, 9 July. Kick off is at 12h30.
Quarter-Finals draw:
TS Galaxy vs Chippa United
Maritzburg United vs Stellenbosch
Kaizer Chiefs vs SuperSport United
Orlando Pirates vs Mamelodi Sundowns
It doesn’t look good on our Diski team, I wonder we will win this Diski league again under Surprise…