Fadlu Davids sizes up Soweto, Kariakoo and Casablanca derbies

Davids, who is preparing for the big match-up between Simba and Young Africans in the Tanzanian Premier League this Saturday, has been part of some of Africa's biggest football rivalries as assistant coach at Orlando Pirates and Raja Club Athletic in Morocco.

Many fans would argue which of the rivalries are better when it comes to various aspects, including quality of football and stadium atmosphere, and, speaking exclusively to SABC Sport, the former Maritzburg United striker has shared his views.

"If I could say, the Chiefs and Pirates derby, in terms of quality and derby feel, is very similar to [Kariakoo] Derby because, if I were to take Simba and Yanga's teams, they would probably be on par with Chiefs, Pirates – okay, Sundowns are on a different level," said Davids.

"But you would probably compete number two and three, or one of the clubs probably pushing Sundowns, I'm sure, to at least challenge them for the league – just in terms of quality.

"In terms of feel, like vuvuzelas, sounds and feeling, I think the derbies feel very similar – the only difference is one side is green [for Yanga] and one side is red [for Simba], whereas with Chiefs and Pirates it's a little bit more random.

"So the stadium is cut extremely in half, and the Yang fans will always be on the right and the Simba fans will be on the left, and that's probably the only difference to the Soweto Derby, but it's very similar in terms of the feel, quality, what to expect.

"You can't hear yourself on the bench, it's an electric feeling when a team attacks and when a goal is scored, there's vuvuzelas constantly for 90 minutes, or those types of sounds."

While assistant to Joseph Zinnbauer at Raja, who won three from three derbies against Wydad en route the Moroccan cup and league double last season, Davids says the Casablanca Derby is simply on a different level when it comes to atmosphere.

"The Wydad-Raja derby is different – it's ultras that are singing for 90 minutes, from when you come out to set up the pitch before the game, the one set of fans will be singing and the others will try to out sing each other," he added.

"And there's flares, and tifos, and it's just a different feeling, so that derby is probably on a different level in terms of interaction with the game, interaction with the constant singing – if the derby is dull, fans would still be bouncing for 90 minutes.

"And I think, in the [Soweto Derby] and [Kariakoo Derby], it depends on the quality of the match to increase the excitement of the fans – you have to attack, or score a goal, or see a skill to ignite the fans. So that's the difference between the three derbies."

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