FC Porto is hoping it will be third time lucky to achieve their maiden success at the Bayhill Premier Cup.
The township team from the Greater Philippi LFA got stuck in the Round of 16 on two previous occasions – 2019 and 2023.
However, this year they have made bigger waves at the 35th edition of the Easter Spectacle and progressed to their first ever final.
This comes after they were knocked out of the quarterfinal of the Winners Section by FN Rangers.
Porto will now square up against Young Bafana Academy in the Mid-Section final at 12:30 at the Athlone Stadium on (Easter) Monday.
Porto’s coach Khanyo Majezi said this to No Bones with Jones: “It is really not the final that we wanted to be honest, not to be arrogant or anything but we wanted the big final,” he stated.
“From the squad we assembled we expected the big one. But we are proud of what the boys achieved thus far,” he added.
It will be a case of ‘the haves’ versus ‘the have nots’ when they cross swords with their much more influential opponents in Young Bafana who have a very strong German connection and influence -and of course budget.
Majezi cited that this makes them even more eager to prove a point.
“A team that is determined to achieve success against all odds,” he further added. “We are an LFA team from the dusty streets of Philippi that have no resources and a pitch to train but worked damn hard to put ourselves on the map,” he concluded.
Meanwhile Young Bafana has been rather impressive at their second appearance at the tournament and will be a tough ask for Porto.
The Strand-based outfit dispatched teams like Stellenbosch FC and the University of Pretoria to progress to the Mid-section final and will be eager to capitalize on that.
