The defending Varsity Football champions, UJ look forward to their clash with NWU this week at Soweto Campus Stadium where they can book themselves a place in the final of the 2022 edition.
In their last two fixtures, the UJ head coach didn’t field his captain Neo Lebopa who has been part of the spine of the team since the start of the season.
After having topped the log after the round-robin fixtures, Lebopa feels like the real job only begins now, as they are just two steps away from defending their title.
“It’s going to be a high-intensity game of beautiful football as both teams play possession-based football. It’s going to be an exciting game to both play and watch,” Lebopa told Varsity Football.
Lebopa also hopes that playing in front of the Orange Army fans will give them a huge advantage.
“Playing at home in front of our wonderful fans has always given us the upper hand. So having our home supporters as the 12 men will give us the advantage,” he added.
Speaking on his special moments in this season’s campaign, Lebopa recalled their comeback win against record champions UP-Tuks as well as the derby against Wits.
“Bouncing back from being one goal down against TUKS in the second half has been a special moment for me. Also winning the derby at Wits is one of the stand-out moments,” he added.
The defender also sent a message to UJ fans, saying he hopes that they can celebrate their Varsity Football exploits together this year after supporters were not allowed in the stands when UJ lifted their maiden title last time around.
“I plead that they come in numbers to support us as we’ll be doing this for them. Last year we won it without them, so this year we want to rejoice with them. Their love and support are highly appreciated and they should continue marching with the Orange Army,” he concluded.
UJ will take on NWU in the late kick-off at 19:15 at the UJ Stadium on Thursday. The match will be broadcast live on SuperSport 4.
You can get information on how to get tickets here.
By Gontse Hlophe.
