Freese Frozen Out By Platinum Stars
Coach Allan Freese looks set to know his fate with Platinum
Stars before the end of this week. Freese was placed on ‘special
leave’ last week due to Dikwena’s poor performance in the league this season,
with the club lying 13th on the log with 24 points after 22 games. Freese’s
former assistant Willem Jackson oversaw the side’s 3-1 loss to Mamelodi
Sundowns in the Nedbank Cup on the weekend. Mazingiza says the decision to
relieve Freese of his duties was not taken lightly. Mazingiza adds that it was
natural for Jackson to be handed temporary control of the team. Ian Palmer and
Cavin Johnson have been linked with the Stars hotseat, but Mazingiza is
tight-lipped on the talk.
Mamelodi Sundowns
will visit Mpumalanga Black Aces, while Bidvest Wits will travel to Ajax Cape
Town in the Nedbank Cup quarter-finals. The games will take place on April
11/12, with the venues yet to be confirmed by the Premier Soccer League. The
PSL held the last-eight draw at Southgate Mall in Johannesburg on Monday.
Draw results:
Mpumalanga Black Aces vs Mamelodi Sundowns
Ajax CT vs Bidvest Wits
Black Leopards vs Vasco da Gama
SuperSport United vs Golden Arrows
Kaizer Chiefs’ Absa
Premiership fixture with AmaZulu has been rescheduled for April 9 at the Peter
Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane. The fixture was initially set for the day
before, but Chiefs requested the change in light of their CAF Champions League
commitments. Amakhosi coach Stuart Baxter has also given his players three days
off during the current international break. The Glamour Boys will return to
training on Wednesday as they get set for a Champions League first round,
second leg clash with Raja Casablanca on April 4.
The South African
Under-23 Men’s team lost 2-0 to Sudan in the first leg of the 2015 All Africa
Games qualifier played at the El Obied Stadium in Sudan on Sunday. Despite
the defeat, coach Owen Da Gama said he was confident of reversing the scoreline
when the two meet in South Africa in two weeks’ time during the return leg.
South Africa will host Sudan on 11 April 2015 in the second leg of the All
Africa Games qualifier back in South Africa.
Banyana Banyana beat
Botswana 1–0 in the first leg of the All-Africa Games qualifier match at
Molepolole Stadium on the outskirts of Gaborone on Saturday. The only goal
of the match by Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies player Sanah Mollo gave Vera Pauw’s
charges the victory and a comfortable position with an away-goal ahead of the
return leg which will be played in South Africa in April.
Bafana Bafana trio Dean Furman, May Mahlangu and Anele
Ngcongca have been ruled out of the upcoming friendlies with Swaziland and
Nigeria. South Africa will tackle neighbours Swaziland on Wednesday
at Lobamba’s Somhlolo Stadium (kick-off: 19h00), before hosting the Super
Eagles at Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Sunday (ko: 15h30). The squad will,
however be without two injured players – midfielder Mahlangu and defender
Ngcongca, as well as Furman. Mahlangu is recovering in South Africa and
reported for camp on Sunday where he was checked by the team doctor Thulani
Ngwenya. Mahlangu has since been released from camp due to a fractured bone in
his foot. Ngcongca’s club Racing Genk has informed Bafana that the player is
suffering from an Achilles tendon problem and will not be able to honour the
national call-up. Ngwenya has spoken to their medical team and the club will
forward the scan results for him to peruse. Meanwhile, Doncaster Rovers FC
midfielder Furman has been excused from international duty at his League One
club’s request.
Ajax Cape Town have
handed a contract to 16-year-old defender Sebastian Lucas. Lucas will
campaign in the club’s ABC Motsepe League [third tier] team, according to the
Urban Warriors website. The left-footed player has been with the coastal outfit
since the age of 11, joining from Old Mutual Academy in 2010.
Bafana Bafana coach
Ephraim Mashaba was reportedly robbed of several items, including a laptop and
two cell phones, last Thursday evening. According to SA Breaking News, the
items were stolen from ‘Shakes”s car while he was in a fast food outlet in
Auckland Park. “A number of personal items were stolen, among them my two cell
phones and a laptop,” Shakes is quoted as telling Metro FM’s Robert Marawa.
Veteran Mpumalanga
Black Aces goalkeeper Calvin Marlin says he will only make an informed decision
about his playing future at the end of the season despite being elevated to the
position of goalkeeper coach-cum-assistant coach. Following the departure
of head coach of Clive Barker and his support staff of assistant Johnny
Ferreira and goalkeeper coach Ernest Mabouka the club has thrust Jacob Sakala
into the hot seat with Marlin providing back-up as goalkeeper coach and
assistant coach.“I have to wait until the end of the season to see what
happens. I have been registered as a player all along and I remain that for now
though I now also have to do the goalkeeper training work while also coming in
as an assistant in the interim. “Since
the current position is just up to the end of the season I will only be making
a decision at the end of the season once I have also gotten guidelines from the
club. Though I also have coaching duties I will still be a back-up keeper to
Jackie [Jackson Mabokgwane] and Bafana [Nhlapo],” Marlin says. A month short of his 39th birthday,
Marlin is the oldest player registered in the PSL this season. He has not
played an official game for Aces since joining at the beginning of last season
with his last taste of action being on April 21, 2012 when he was still at
Mamelodi Sundowns. Sakala has also confirmed that he will be working with
Marlin up to the end of the season with no assistant being brought in for now.
Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune has revealed that he has lost two
endorsement deals thanks to the time he has spent on the sidelines. Khune
was addressing the media at a Nedbank Cup last 16 briefing earlier today and
admitted his frustration at having to sit out injured. “Things haven’t been going well. I’ve lost two endorsement
deals since I haven’t been playing for club and country,” Khune
revealed.”It was frustrating to go through the same injury as last season.
I told myself that when I get back, I need to do what Itu Khune does best. It feels great to be back in the mix.
I’ve been missing training, the crowd and the fans have given me a good
reception. The number one tag brings
excitement. Pressure is always there. Even when I go pour petrol there is
pressure.” Khune has recently
reclaimed his starting place in goal after Brilliant Khuzwayo impressed during
his absence. “To be commenting on the number one job is not my
responsibility. The coach has the final say,” he added.
Mamelodi Sundowns
midfielder Lindokuhle Mbatha is considering making a move back to Platinum
Stars next season. The 29-year-old has failed to break into Sundowns’
first-team squad on a regular basis this season and is also not registered for
the CAF Champions League. According
to a source close to Mbatha, Dikwena have shown huge interest in bringing the
player back to the club next season. “He
is frustrated with the lack of game-time at Sundowns. Mpumalanga Black Aces are
also monitoring his situation at Sundowns,” says the source. Mbatha played for AmaZayoni before
joining Platinum Stars, where he excelled last season before joining Sundowns.
Orlando Pirates
legend Jomo Sono has distanced himself from the ownership saga that involved
the club and his half-brother, Julius. Julius, the son of Bucs legend Eric
‘Scara’ Sono, has reportedly questioned the legality of Dr Irvin Khoza’s stake
in the Soweto outfit, but Jomo has made it clear that Julius’ claim has nothing
to do with the Sonos. “I have tried
to avoid the issue of KK (Julius), because it is none of my business,” Jomo
stresses. “He is my half-brother,
but he’s got his own mind. He does his own thing. I cannot control him. I don’t
want to get involved and I can see they have tried to drag me into this, but I
don’t want to get involved,” he insists.
“I’m happy where I am and we had a family meeting to discuss the matter and
they all feel the same. Pirates can deal with him and I wouldn’t get involved.
I can only get involved if it is my children, but he is not my child and he is
a father of children. So it has nothing to do with the Sono family. For your information, what he has done
(with Pirates) he has done it with Cosmos as well, so it is nothing new. Let
Pirates handle it, because that’s their baby,” Sono adds. The ‘Iron Duke’ also responded to Julius’ claims, saying, ‘It is
really painful to see the son of an Orlando Pirates great, Eric ‘Scara’ Sono in
such a sad state of mind’. Khoza has
been the owner of Pirates since 1991.
Moroka Swallows defender-cum-striker Ashraf Hendricks says he is enjoying his
transition into a striker after spending most of his playing career as a
centre-back. Hendricks has only scored one goal this season and says he
will play wherever the coach asks him to, depending on the opponents. “For me, I’m enjoying it and
wherever the coach asks me to play, I will play,” he says.”The thing
is, the club at this point needed to change the style of play, but me playing
up front it’s depending on the coach where he wants me to play. If we play shorter with a quick pace
to the game, then he will use other strikers who are quicker than me and who
also have more pace up front and more speed.”
Former Bafana Bafana skipper Bongani Khumalo was lauded by
his coach after helping new club Colchester United to victory in his debut last
Wednesday night. The
defender, who had been turning out for Tottenham Hotspur’s U-21 side, secured a
loan move to the struggling League One outfit last week, making his debut last
night in a 2-0 home win over fellow strugglers Yeovil Town. Colchester coach Tony Humes was full of praise for his new
recruit, describing him as “unruffled” and “composed”. “Bongani is an experienced player and he brings that with him – it
was a good debut and he looked very unruffled the whole game,” Humes told
reporters after the game. “He’s
played in World Cup finals for South Africa so he should be able to cope with
whatever situation, having done what he’s done in the past. He looked very
unruffled and very composed in what he did.
He defended well and did his job as was asked and led the back four very
well.” Humes is expecting even more
from the former SuperSport United defender in future, as he looks to guide his
team out the relegation zone. “He’d
only had two training sessions with us, so the club and the players around him
are very new to him,” he said. “But he watched the (Crawley) game (last
Saturday) and he’s an astute person. He
recognised the strengths and weaknesses of the players around him, how we want
to play and what’s required.” Colchester
currently lie 23rd out of 24 teams in the League One standings, with Wednesday
night’s victory their first after four successive defeats.
Kaizer Chiefs coach
Stuart Baxter says that the club’s trialist James Keene will know his fate
before the end of the week. The 29-year-old forward has been on trial for
the past few days and Baxter seems keen on the Englishman in an attempt to
bolster Chiefs’ attack for at least until the end of the current campaign. “I
have seen James for a long time. He played at Portsmouth as a keeper and he
moved to Sweden, where he played most of his professional career [as a striker]
so I’ve seen him for a long time,” says Baxter. “He’s been in Israel and the
last time he played in the Indian League [for NorthEast United]. He’s available
for us to sign if we want to and I think he is an interesting player, because
he has a proven goalscoring record,” he says. However, the stumbling block
could be the work permit which is usually a long process hence Baxter wants to
make a quick decision so Keene may be available for some of Chiefs’ remaining
matches.“We’re gonna have a look at him and make a decision before the weekend.
He has to go back and that’s why we want to make a quick decision. It is only
for until the end of the season and if he impresses we will look at long term,”
he adds.
Bidvest Wits coach
Gavin Hunt believes 16-year-old midfielder Liam Jordan can make it in Europe
provided he works hard and stays grounded. Jordan, who is the son of the
late former Bafana Bafana striker Keryn, made his Wits debut off the bench in a
3-0 victory over University of Pretoria in the Nedbank Cup last night. “I had Benni [McCarthy] when he was a
17-year-old and I had Sheppy [Dillon Sheppard] when he was 16,” says Hunt. “And I think Liam is on a par. He can
play in Europe, no doubt, he is technically very good and he can play in a
number of positions. He got a bit caught tonight, the pace was high and he has
not played much. He has huge
potential but so have many other players and we know what happens to potential
in South Africa. He must keep his
feet on the ground and work hard. We need to bed him down in terms of how we
are going to use him going forward. If he stays, which is highly unlikely, he
should play a big part next season.”
Bafana Bafana coach
Shakes Mashaba has thrown the biggest hint that he will not stress too much
about trying to involve PSL players at the forthcoming Cosafa Cup tournament in
the North West. Though the regional tournament will be played just after
the closure of the Absa Premiership (May 17-31) there is no guarantee that PSL
clubs will be keen on releasing their players as this competition falls on
non-FIFA calendar dates. As one of
the ranked teams, Bafana Bafana will start off at the quarter-final stage
against Botswana on May 25 and will be guaranteed of at least three games
regardless of whether they win or lose their last-eight meeting with the
Zebras.“We have had discussions with the hierarchy at SAFA about that and we
have agreed that we have to spread our wings in the selection of players for
this tournament,” says Mashaba. “I
say this because you have to understand that the PSL are running a programme as
well and we cannot keep on interfering with it because there are sponsorship
issues. We just need to make sure that we work with what we have rather than
creating friction with the clubs who might feel some of their players need to
rest.” With five players from the Castle Lager Football Academy invited to join
camp for the games against Swaziland and Nigeria this month, the veteran gaffer
further explains that he will also tap into the third tier, the junior national
teams and the MultiChoice Diski Challenge if the situation so calls. “The five players from the Castle
Lager Football Academy that we will be bringing into the next camp will be all
about making them understand what is happening and we will even go to ABC
Motsepe League and the MultiChoice Diski Challenge. We also have the national
Under-23 team that is playing in the All Africa Games qualifiers and that is a
team that we will look at in terms of making a base for the Chan and Cosafa
tournaments,” he said.
Golden Arrows are at
the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland this week challenging a
dispute over unpaid wages with former coach Ernst Middendorp and goalkeeper
coach Kurt Kowarz. The National First Division leaders are disputing two
Fifa decisions in favour of the German pair, who took the club to court for
unpaid wages after they were fired just over three years ago Middendorp worked at Arrows from April
2011, coming late in the season to replace Zoran Filipovic, to September the
same year. He was famously fired the day after his side beat Kaizer Chiefs in
Polokwane. Kowarz, a former
Bundesliga goalkeeper with FC Nuremburg, was brought to Arrows by Middendorp as
a goalkeeper coach. He now works as Germany’s Under-20 team goalkeeper coach. Both took Arrows to Fifa to be paid
out the balance of their contracts. At the time of Middendorp’s appointment in
2011, he was reported to have signed a one-year deal which means he was still
owed some six months wages. A
decision could take several weeks to be made public. Arrows were involved in a long legal dispute with midfielder
Clifford Ngobeni, now at Mpumalanga Black Aces, over their failure to pay him
the last 12 months of an 18-month loan deal from Orlando Pirates. The case went on for more than two years
but was eventually ruled in Arrows’ favour.
South African players abroad:
DEAN FURMAN
Furman helped Doncaster Rovers come from behind to claim a 3-1 win at Coventry
City that keeps their promotion hopes alive. They are three points off sixth
place and the promotion play-offs.
KAMOHELO MOKOTJO
Mokotjo played the full game for FC Twente as they were held to a 2-2 draw by
Groningen in the Dutch Eredivisie.
TOKELO RANTIE
Rantie was a late substitute for English Championship side Bournemouth as they
moved back to the top of the division with a 3-0 home win over Middlesbrough.
BONGANI KHUMALO
Khumalo started his second game in a week for new English League One side
Colchester United as they let a late lead slip to draw 2-2 at Gillingham.
MAY MAHLANGU
Mahlangu was again missing for Turkish side Konyaspor as he continues to
recover from a fractured ankle.
LEBOGANG PHIRI
Phiri celebrated his first Bafana Bafana call-up by helping Danish side Brondby
to a 1-0 away win over FC Vestsjælland that sees them move up to fourth.
THULANI SERERO
Serero was restored to the Ajax Amsterdam starting line-up for Sunday’s 1-0
home win over ADO Den Haag.
SIYANDA XULU
Xulu was again an unused substitute for Russian Premier League side FC Rostov
as he seeks an exit from the club at the end of the season. They lost 2-0 at
Rubin Kazan to stay bottom of the table.
SERGIO MARAKIS
Marakis returned to the match day squad at Portuguese second-tier side
Portimonense for the first time this year having overcome injury. He remained
on the bench though.
AYANDA NKILI
Nkili did not get off the bench as his side reached the Swedish Cup Final with
a 2-0 win over Elfsborg. They will meet IFK Goteborg in the Final on May 17.
KGOSI NTLHE
Ntlhe’s Peterborough United won 1-0 at home to Chesterfield to move up to sixth
in the English League One and into the promotion play-offs.
NANA NTULI
Ntuli was an unused substitute for Jong FC Twente as they claimed a fine 1-0
win over Oss in the Dutch second division.
RICARDO NUNES
Nunes came on at half-time for Polish topflight club Pogoń Szczecin as they won
3-0 at home to Bełchatow.