Who will lift the Funanani Ndou trophy on Sunday?

The quarter-final, semi-final, and final matches of the Funanani Ndou Attorneys Soccer Tournament will be played at the Khubvi Benjie's Grounds this weekend.

Berea FC and Tshamutilikwa Fire Boys will kick off the day's programme with their quarter-final match on Saturday morning. Berea are the hot favourites to lift the trophy. The Zwigodini side secured their place in the quarter-finals by beating Makonde Home Defenders 4-0 last Saturday.

Fire Boys will need to step up their efforts to stop Berea's strikers, Dakalo Ratshitanga and Edwin Ramphabana. Fire Boys earned their spot among the top eight teams by defeating Thengwe Flying Peace 3-0.

Benny’s Care Academy, who dealt Mutshenzheni Gorillas a heavy 5-0 defeat at the same venue last Saturday, will face ABC FC at 11:00. Thohoyandou Manchester Flying Stars will go head to head with Makonde FC shortly after midday. Makonde must be wary of the Flying Stars’ midfielders, Vuwani Masakona and Hulani Mphephu, or they may find themselves overwhelmed by the end of the game. The final quarter-final match will be between Tshimuthe FC and Maelula United Brothers.

The draw for the semi-final matches will be conducted at the grounds shortly after the last quarter-final game on Saturday. The first semi-final match will commence on Sunday at 09:00, with the second scheduled for 11:00. The winners of the semi-finals will meet in the final later in the afternoon.

The champions of the tournament will receive R20,000, a soccer kit, a floating trophy, and gold medals. The runners-up will take home R10,000, a soccer kit, and silver medals. Teams eliminated in the semi-final round will each receive R3,500 and a soccer kit. The four teams eliminated in the quarter-finals will each be awarded R1,000.

Date:02 August 2024

By: Frank Mavhungu

Frank is a Human Resources Manager at the Department of Public Works in Limpopo. He is the longest serving correspondent of the Mirror, having joined us at the end of 1990.  He mainly writes sports reports and resides at Tsianda Village. In 2004, Frank won the National Castle League Award, an award for the best reporter in the SAB league in South Africa.

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