University of Pretoria and Mamelodi Sundowns will face off in the MultiChoice Diski Challenge final at the Nike Football Training Centre in Pimville, Soweto on Saturday.
The Pretoria rivals already have the honour of being the first teams to reach the final of the competition.
Each team is now chasing the record to be the first to win the Diski Challenge.
Tuks progressed to the final after their 3-2 victory on penalties against SuperSport United in Port Elizabeth. The match had finished 1-all after extra time with both goals coming in the first half.
Keeper Lebogang Ngubeni stopped one spotkick while a further two missed the target. Botshelo Mfulwane, Dikgang Ngcobo and Siphelele Luthuli converted their penalties to send Tuks through to the final.
Sundowns edged Mpumalanga Black Aces 2-1 in the second semifinal which also took place in Port Elizabeth.
Experienced midfielder Lebohang "Cheese boy" Mokoena scored either side of Judas Moseamedi's goal to seal the Brazilians' spot in the final.
While the youngsters will take much of the spotlight on the day, some of the interest will also be on the coaches of the two teams.
Tuks' Sly Mosala and his counterpart Alex Bapela chase the honour of being the first coach to lift the Diski Challenge trophy, a feat that both will undoubtedly be pleased to achieve.
Mosala was recently appointed as a joint-coach at Tuks following the departure of the long-serving mentor Steve Barker, who joined Durban-based side AmaZulu. He will be looking prove his worth having being in the senior team setup for a long time.
Bapela, who is the club's legend, has been with the development side for a couple of years and also served as an assistant coach in the senior side. The former midfielder will also see this as a chance to launch his coaching career.
GIANT KILLERS
Tuks had a tough run in the group stages of the competition where they won three matches, drew twice and also lost twice. The turnaround was during their must-win final match against Kaizer Chiefs where they duly delivered, winning the clash 3-1.
Finishing fourth in Group A, meant they were going to face Group B winners Orlando Pirates in the quarterfinals. Tuks went after conceding a first-minutes goal in the match, but they fought back and won 5-2 with Denver Mukamba scoring a brace, to continue their giant-killing act. The other goals came from Khethukuthula Zwane, Mfulwane and Mpho Maruping.
On the contrary, Sundowns had an impressive showing in the group stages and were considered one of the favourites from earlier on. They won four of their seven matches, drew twice and lost once.
They finished second in Group B with 14 points to setup a quarterfinal encounter against the highest-scoring Polokwane City, who were third in Group A. The Brazilians won 2-0 , with the goals coming from debutants left-back Katlego Babile and winger Tshepo Ntlaba, who were promoted from the Under-17 team ahead of the match.
Another motivating factor for the youngsters, will be to play the final in Soweto - the birthplace of SA football. They get a chance to follow in the footsteps of former local greats by making a name for themselves and get picked as the players to watch for in future.
The final will kick off at 12pm after the 3rd and 4th place playoff tie between SuperSport and Black Aces.
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