All roads lead to Moses Mabhida for the semi-final fixtures of the DStv Compact Cup competition.
On Saturday 22 January, Dinaledi FC, which consists of seven Mamelodi Sundowns players in the team, will meet their opponents – Coastal United, for the first time after the Premier Soccer League confirmed the starting line-ups for the upcoming Compact Cup according to the supporters’ votes. Bafana Ba Style’s goalkeeper, Ricardo Goss is among the selected players in the starting eleven to face United, the shot stopper analysed his opponents ahead of the encounter:
“Obviously they’ve got speed upfront, they’ve got height too, so we will need to deal with that. In the middle they have a lot of experience in [Mogakolodi] Ngele, [Mpho] Makola, [Thabo] Nodada and [Nathan] Sinkala, we will need to be prepared to deal with those players. We have to deal with the freekicks from Ngele, deal with the place of [Ashley] Du Preez and [Evidence] Makgopa holding up the ball for them.” Said Goss.
Followed by the 3rd/4th playoff and the final at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg on 29 January, this group of players will be tasked with finding solutions to defeat the team made up of players from Cape Town City FC, Stellenbosch FC, Chippa United and Baroka FC. Meanwhile, a formidable partnership of players from SuperSport United, Mamelodi Sundowns, Marumo Gallants and Sekhukhune United will be formed to contest for a spot in the final showdown in Joburg.
“I’ve played with everybody in this team except Phillip Ndlondlo, I know most of the guys in the team which is gonna be good for us. I think most of us have actually played together when you look at it, especially at National teams and that will help in going a long way. I think we just need to whenever we get the chance to just finish it off.” Said the goalie.
Goss also added on his excitement about reuniting with his old mate: “It’s gonna be nice to see [Lehlohonolo] Nonyane once again because we used to play together at Wits and we had a partnership at the back, most of the guys I’ve played with at National level, it’s not really new faces or anything like that.”
Dinaledi FC starting line up:
Goalkeeper:
Ricardo Goss (Sundowns FC)
Defenders:
Rushine De Reuck (Sundowns FC)
Nyiko Mobbie
Luke Fleur’s
Lehlohonolo Nonyane
Midfielders:
Gaston Sirino (Sundowns FC)
Teboho Mokoena
Sipho Mbule
Phillip Ndlondlo
Strikers:
Kermit Erasmus (Sundowns FC)
Gift Motupa (Sundowns FC)
The first semi-final is a battle between Coastal United and Dinaledi FC at the Moses Mabhida Stadium, kick off is 15:00. All matches will be televised LIVE on SuperSport PSL channel 202.