Mashaba Named Coach
Of The Year
Bafana Bafana boss Ephraim ‘Shakes’ Mashaba was named Coach
of the Year at the 2014 SA Sports Awards, while Banyana Banyana striker Portia
Modise was also honoured on Sunday night. Mashaba – whose Bafana
charges claimed Nelson Mandela Challenge honours earlier in the day – beat off
competition from Swimming South Africa’s Graham Hill and Springbok Sevens
tactician Neil Powell for the prize. Shakes was rewarded primarily for
supervising Bafana’s qualification for the Africa Cup of Nations, taking place
in Equatorial Guinea from January 17 to February 8. Mashaba also safely guided
the national Under-20 team to a spot at the 2015 African Youth Championships in
Senegal before returning to the Bafana hotseat in September. Modise was named
Sports Star of the Year after she scored her 100th international goal in
Banyana’s 5-1 win over Algeria at the African Women’s Championship in Namibia
last month. Meanwhile, Ajax Cape Town defender Rivaldo Coetzee missed out on
the Newcomer of the Year accolade. Gezelle Magermann won the category ahead of
fellow track athlete Wayde van Niekerk and Coetzee.
The Premier Soccer League conducted the
National First Division qualification draw for the Nedbank Cup. The eight
NFD winners will join eight SAFA clubs and 16 PSL clubs to form the Last 32 for
South Africa’s version of the FA Cup. The qualification matches will kick-off
on the 9-10 December.
FULL DRAW
Jomo vs Cape Town All Stars
Highlands Park vs Vasco da Gama
Maluti FET vs Royal Eagles
African Warriors vs Garankuwa United
Thanda Royal Zulu vs Santos
Golden Arrows vs Milano United
Black Leopards vs Witbank Spurs
FC Cape Town vs Baroka FC
Bongani Zungu and
David Zulu scored either side of the break as Bafana Bafana deservedly beat
Ivory Coast 2-0 in the annual Nelson Mandela Challenge at Mbombela Stadium on
Sunday. Both countries – who used the game as part of their preparations
for the Africa Cup of Nations – fielded experimental sides as the fixture fell
outside the Fifa calendar, meaning clubs were not obliged to release their
players for it.
Polokwane City, University of Pretoria and Chippa United – those are the three
teams currently leading the Absa Premiership Q2 standings. Rise and Shine
are three points clear of the chasing pack after three wins and a draw. Orlando
Pirates can join four teams in second place on seven points should they win
their game in hand, which will put them a point of Kaizer Chiefs, who cruised
to Q1 honours. Platinum Stars only have three points, though they have played
two games less than most. Propping up the bottom of the standings,
unsurprisingly, are Free State Stars and AmaZulu, who have only managed one
point apiece.
Four Kaizer Chiefs
and two Orlando Pirates players will miss the Soweto Derby on Saturday if they
pick up another yellow card in the midweek round of Absa Premiership games. For
the Amakhosi, who face a tough trip to Bidvest Wits, three midfielders in
George Maluleka, Siphiwe Tshabalala and Willard Katsande are walking the
tightrope, as is left-back Tsepo Masilela.
For the Buccaneers, Thabo Qalinge and Daine Klate will miss the Derby
should they receive one more caution.
South African striker Fagrie Lakay says
he is proud after becoming South Africa’s youngest-ever player following his
debut in Bafana Bafana’s 2-0 win over Ivory Coast. The 17-year-old Santos
forward came on in the 76th minute of the Nelson Mandela Challenge against the
Elephants, breaking the record recently set by Ajax Cape Town’s Rivaldo Coetzee
as the youngest ever player to wear the national jersey for Bafana. The young
teenager revealed his parents were the first people he called after rewriting
South Africa’s history books. Lakay revealed that playing in the Mandela
Challenge was a special moment for him especially, being a “born-free”. Lakay
was an integral member of the South Africa U-20 side that secured their passage
to the 2015 CAF African Youth Championship, and became the first of that team
to earn a senior national cap. Lakay also revealed his gratitude to coach
Shakes Mashaba for affording him this opportunity.
Moroka Swallows boss Leon Prins says he
“will talk at some stage” with Siyabonga Nomvete about his future at
Dobsonville Stadium. Nomvete’s contract expires at the end of the season,
with the veteran striker no longer a guaranteed starter in the team as he
approaches his 37th birthday. However, ‘Bhele’ reasserted his value with a late
brace in struggling Swallows’ dramatic 2-1 win at Maritzburg United last week
for his first goals of the campaign. Caretaker coach Fani Madida was likewise
non-committal when asked if Nomvete would have his stay extended in Soweto. The
Dube Birds, who are 13th on the log with 13 points from 12 matches, next host
second-placed Ajax Cape Town on Wednesday.
South African attackers Lovers Mofokeng
and Manqoba ‘Shakes’ Ngwenya are impressing in the beMOBILE Botswana Premier
League as they are just a goal behind the division’s leading two scorers.
Playing for unfancied Satmos FC in Selibe Phikwe, the 26-year-old Mofokeng from
Rustenburg has six strikes to his name after 12 rounds of league action – the
same tally as Ngwenya of log leaders Township Rollers. There are three players
in total on six goals, while two players are above them with seven strikes
each. They are Sageby Sandaka of BMC and Jerome Louis from Rollers. Mofokeng’s
business manager, Kabelo Sibiya, took the striker to Botswana after he
impressed in a tournament there and won himself a two-year contract. Prior to
joining Satmos, Mofokeng had played for Orbit Fet FC in Safa’s Second Division
in the North West. Satmos are currently 10th on the log with 14 points, while
Rollers have 30 points.
Supporters will be able to buy the new
Bafana Bafana jersey to be used at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations on December
11. There was talk that the jersey would be launched last week, but Nike
communications manager Seruscka Naidoo has spoken out: “The official reveal of
the new kit will be made in the upcoming days. The new jersey will be available
in retail from 11 December.”
Orlando Pirates
fullback Thabo Matlaba and striker Lehlohonolo ‘Major’ Majoro are back in
contention for Pirates’ Absa Premiership clash with Maritzburg United at FNB
Stadium. Matlaba – who last played against Chippa United on 27
September – has missed Bucs’ previous seven games after sustaining an Achilles
injury on the eve of Bafana Bafana’s Afcon qualifier with Congo on 15 October.
Patrick Phungwayo has impressed in Matlaba’s absence at left-back, with the
former also putting in an accomplished display in Bafana’s 2-0 win over Ivory
Coast in the Nelson Mandela Challenge on the weekend. However, Matlaba is
available again, as is Majoro, who sat out his team’s last two matches with an
ankle complaint.
SuperSport United have
decided against signing Honduran striker Junior Sandoval and Ivorian midfielder
Adriel D’avila Ba Loua. The pair were on trial at the club, but have been
unable to win the favour of head coach Gordon Igesund. “We are not signing
them and they have since gone back home,” says Igesund, who guided
Matsatsantsa to Telkom Knockout honours on the weekend at the expense of
Platinum Stars.
Senzo Meyiwa has made
the five-man shortlist for the Africa-based African Player of the Year award,
while Yaya Toure and Asamoah Gyan are amongst those vying for CAF’s top
individual prize. The late Bafana Bafana and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper –
who was fatally shot on October 26 – is up against Algeria and ES Setif pair
Akram Djahnit and El Hedi Belamieri, Firmin Mubel Ndombe of Congo and AS Vita,
and Tunisia and CS Sfaxien’s Fakhereddine Ben Youssef for honours. CAF will
announce the winner at a ceremony in Lagos on 8 January. Meanwhile, Ivorian
midfielder Toure and Ghanaian striker Gyan have made the five-man shortlist for
the 2014 African Footballer of the Year award. The others to make the cut are
Nigerian duo Vincent Enyeama and Ahmed Musa, and Gabonese forward
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. In the women’s version of the award, Banyana Banyana
legend Portia Modise – who was recognised at the SA Sports Awards – will battle
Nigerians Asisat Oshoala and Desire Oparanozie, Annette Ngo Ndom of Cameroon,
and Zenatha Coleman of Namibia for honours.
Thuso Phala
scored an extra-time winner as SuperSport United were crowned 2014 Telkom
Knockout champions after a 3-2 victory over Platinum Stars at Orlando Stadium
on Saturday. Phala’s 111th-minute strike separated the sides after
120 minutes of football that included two penalties scored and one saved.
Daniels scored the two spot-kicks and Eleazar Rodgers missed one, while the
other goals were scored by Robert Ng’ambi and Mogokolodi Ngele. SuperSport held
on to be crowned 2014 Telkom Knockout champions and handed coach Gordon Igesund
his first cup trophy since his 2000 BP Top 8 win with Orlando Pirates.
The Confederation of African Football
(CAF) has confirmed, through SAFA, the names of the South African clubs
participating in this year’s CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup.
Reigning Absa Premiership champions, Mamelodi Sundowns and runners ups, Kaizer
Chiefs will play in the CAF Champions League. Nedbank Cup winners, Orlando
Pirates and third place finishers in the ABSA Premiership, Bidvest Wits, will
participate in the Confederation Cup.
Following the selection of 45 players
during the third season of the Castle Lager Football Academy, chief scouts Neil
Tovey and Philemon Masinga have both hailed the campaign. The players were
selected by scouts from nine provinces throughout the year and the squad was
announced in Milpark, Johannesburg on Monday. Klaas-Jan Top from North West,
Calvin Petersen from KwaZulu-Natal and Simon Nare from Mpumalanga were among
the scouts who helped Masinga and Tovey to select South Africa’s finest youth
talent in Castle Lager’s campaign to build a Better Bafana Bafana in the
future. To the man famously known as Chippa in his heyday, Masinga has praised
the scouting process and the initiative by Castle Lager. The 45 players from
all provinces are set to converge for training sessions at Wits University’s
education campus in Parktown, Johannesburg in January 2015. They will be
trained under the watchful eyes of Tovey and Masinga after which the final 23
players will be chosen.
Dean Furman may be a key figure for
South Africa, having captained the national side from midfield in recent
internationals against Sudan and Nigeria, but he has been told to fight for his
place at English third-tier side Doncaster Rovers. The 26-year-old has
faced a spell on the bench each time he has returned from international duty
and, given that he will be missing for up to four weeks for Rovers in January
and February while competing at the Africa Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea,
his club coach Paul Dickov has recently changed the whole shape of the team –
reverting back to a more traditional 4-4-2 in Furman’s absence. While Furman is
a deep-lying midfielder for Bafana Bafana, he is used in a far more advanced
role just behind the strikers at his club side, however Dickov says Furman must
now earn his place in the team.
Bafana Bafana
striker Tokelo Rantie is expected to be out for six weeks with a dislocated
shoulder and faces a race against time to be fit for the 2015 Africa Cup of
Nations. Rantie sustained the injury while playing for club side
Bournemouth in a match against Ipswich Town in the English Championship. The
24-year-old’s injury casts doubt over his chances of featuring for South Africa
in the Africa Cup of Nations between January 17 and February 8. Rantie recently
scored a brace to help South Africa earn a 2-2 draw against Nigeria in the
final round of the 2015 Afcon qualifiers.
Bafana Bafana are on the verge of
breaking into the world’s top 50 after jumping six places in the latest FIFA
World Rankings. Shakes Mashaba’s boys, who jumped 10 places last month,
have now moved to 51st in the world after their victory over Sudan to qualify
for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations and an away draw in Nigeria. Bafana have
also moved one spot in Africa to 11th.
Top 10 [World]: Germany, Argentina,
Colombia, Belgium, Netherlands, Brazil, Portugal, France, Spain and Uruguay.
Top 10 [Africa]: Algeria, Tunisia,
Ivory Coast, Senegal, Ghana, Guinea, Cape Verde Islands, Cameroon, Nigeria and
Mali.
National First Division club FC Cape
Town is in the market, with chairman Errol Dicks having decided to sell the
club after being diagnosed as a diabetic. Currently in fifth position on
the log standings with 17 points after 12 matches and seven points behind
leaders Golden Arrows, Dicks has called on “serious prospective buyers” to
invest in the club. “I have unfinished business in football and I will continue
serving you the footballer as a mentor and facilitator in achieving your
European dreams. All SERIOUS prospective buyers, please submit all enquiries to
the Chairman of FC Cape Town via email: [email protected],” said Dicks.
Ruzaigh Gamildien is keeping fit at the
Old Mutual Football Academy awaiting the opening of the January transfer window
after resolving all outstanding issues with former employers AmaZulu. Gamildien
was dismissed by Usuthu at the end of last month following ‘misconduct-related
issues’ and is now back home in Cape Town plotting his way forward. The
25-year-old says that he is not going to direct his energy towards Usuthu where
he was initially demoted to train with the club’s feeder team, then brought
back to the first team in mid-October when Wilfred Mugeyi became caretaker boss
before being fired two weeks later for what was said to be ‘off-field antics’.
He had been signed by AmaZulu from Bloemfontein Celtic in January.
Wilfred Mugeyi is no longer involved
with AmaZulu’s senior side, according to the club’s team manager Japhet Zwane.
Mugeyi was coaching Usuthu in a caretaker capacity prior to Steve Barker’s
appointment to the hotseat. And it appears as if Mugeyi – who took over the
reins following Craig Rosslee’s sacking on October 15 – will now be deployed
elsewhere.
SA players abroad
Dean Furman came off the bench to
help League One side Doncaster Rovers to a disappointing 1-1 draw with bottom
side Crewe Alexandra.
Andile Jali played for KV Oostende in their 0-0 draw at Mechelen
after his red card from two weekends back was rescinded.
Darren Keet was
back in goals for Kortrijk following his suspension the weekend prior and
helped his side to a 2-0 away win at Standard Liege to move up to fourth in the
Belgian league.
Kamohelo Mokotjo
endured a disappointing weekend as his FC Twente side lost 2-1 at Groningen in
the Dutch league.
Anele Ngcongca
was at right-back for Genk in their 1-0 win over Cercle Brugge.
Kgosi Ntlhe played for Peterborough United as their dismal run
continued with a fifth defeat in their last six league games to slip from
second to ninth. This time it was Bristol City doing the damage with a 3-0 win.
Ayanada Patosi came on late in Lokeren’s
1-1 draw with Lierse on Sunday, having been rested after a number of starts in
recent weeks.
Bafana’s key playmaker Thulani
Serero started for Ajax Amsterdam as they were held to a 1-1 draw at ADO
Den Haag on Sunday.
Siyanda Xulu
lasted just 23 minutes of his first start in two months before being taken off
in FC Rostov’s 1-1 home draw with Amkar.