Orlando Pirates

Josef Zinnbauer, coach of Orlando Pirates during the Absa Premiership 2019/20 Orlando Pirates Media Day at the Rand Stadium, Johannesburg on the 13 January 2020 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

Orlando Pirates vs Kaizer Chiefs: I’m so hot about the game – Zinnbauer

Orlando Pirates head coach Josef Zinnbauer has a fever and the only prescription is the Soweto Derby on 29 February.

Orlando Pirates

Josef Zinnbauer, coach of Orlando Pirates during the Absa Premiership 2019/20 Orlando Pirates Media Day at the Rand Stadium, Johannesburg on the 13 January 2020 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer cannot wait to experience his first derby at a sold-out FNB Stadium on Saturday 29 February.

Zinnbauer spoke with relish about the prospect of facing Ernst Middendorp’s Kaizer Chiefs as he was given the Coach of the Month award for January. 

Soweto derby fever grips Orlando Pirates coach

The German said he has experience of his team’s playing in front of huge crowds but understands that the Soweto derby is likely to be unlike anything he has ever been involved in.

“We have a game in Dortmund, with Hamburg, there was maybe, I don’t know, I think 70 000 [supporters] and the stadium was so loud, you can’t understand your own words,” said Zinnbauer upon receiving his maiden Absa Coach of the Month award at the PSL offices.

“When we played against Bayern Munich, it was full. So, I’ve had a lot of games [with big crowds] like this, but I’m so happy I get the chance to play with the team in front of 90 000.

“It is a different feeling maybe, and I’m happy I can play against Kaizer Chiefs. For me, we can play this [Derby] tomorrow, I’m so hot about the game.”

Orlando Pirates and their coach will have to wait to sink their teeth into the Soweto derby. Zinnbauer’s side face Black Leopards on Sunday (16 February). Middendorp will have his mind fully occupied by Maritzburg United whom Kaizer Chiefs host at the FNB Stadium on Saturday.

Black Leopards are in danger of entering the drop zone going into this weekend level on points with second-from-bottom club Amazulu. Still, Kaizer Chiefs dropped points in Limpopo in January, and their rivals cannot afford to underestimate the strugglers.

January’s coach of the month

Zinnbauer and striker Gabadinho Mhango scooped the respective Coach and Player of the Month awards for January 2020, a month that saw a dramatic upturn in Orlando Pirates fortunes.

From being in danger of dropping into mid-table obscurity, Zinnbauer has turned the team into contenders to chase down Kaizer Chiefs in the Premiership title race. Pirates are still nine points adrift of Amakhosi who have a game in hand.

Zinnbauer succeeded interim Orlando Pirates coach Rhulani Mokwena, who was set to return to his role as an assistant coach. Mokwena has been absent from the bench with the club’s official line being that he is ‘on leave’.

Pirates will have an extra week to prepare for the derby after they bowed out of the Nedbank Cup. Chiefs face Highlands Park in the Cup just seven days before the derby.