The University of the Free State’s (UFS) men’s football team is compelled to avoid any and all pitfalls and blunders to realise the players’ dream of lifting their maiden Varsity Football trophy.
Advancing to the semifinal, the Kovsie lads have the daunting task of going up against the North-West University (NWU), winner of the 2019 tournament.
The other semifinal match-up is between two previous champions, the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and the University of Pretoria’s (UP) Tuks.
The Capetonians won the title in 2015, while the UP won it in 2013, 2014 and 2017 – chasing a fourth victory.
The semifinal fixtures take place this week on Thursday, 12 September.
The Kovsies team is travelling to Mafikeng, hoping to pull an upset and advance to its second final. The lads lost 0 – 4 to the UJ squad in the 2021 final of the tournament, which features eight universities.
The adrenaline-pumping clash in which Kovsies is involved on Thursday is set to kick off at 19:15, with the first semifinal fixture, between the UWC and UP-Tuks, starting at 17:00.
The UFS men are looking for a repeat victory over the host, having beaten these opponents 3 – 1 in the opening match of the tournament played at the same venue on 25 July.
The upbeat Kovsie coach, Wandi Motsamai, is hoping to change the misfortune that has seen Varsity Football trophy glory elude his players.
Equally so, he hopes his warriors will rise to the challenge to write their own chapter in the history of this year’s tournament.
“We are injury-free and we are focusing on the game against the opposition,” said Motsamai.
An added vantage is the current Kovsies team retaining the majority of the players from the two past terms of the competition, utilising their accumulated experience.
Motsamai will be banking on the experience of the influential captain, Boy Rantsoti, to plot their cup success.
Going to this year’s semifinals, the UWC thrashed the Vaal University of Technology (VUT) 5 – 0, while the NWU outclassed the Durban University of Technology (DUT) 3 – 0.
On their way to the semifinal, the UFS men narrowly beat the Central University of Technology (CUT), Free State, 1 – 0 while the UP-Tuks eliminated the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) 1 – 0.
