DON'T PANIC. Focus on Mamelodi Sundowns, the champions of Africa. Not the Soweto derby

TURKISH DELIGHT: Komphela and Ertugral

IT didn't take long for the balloon to burst. Less than a week after Mamelodi Sundowns were crowned champions of Africa, we find ourselves asking: just how good is South African football?

From the ultimate high of Masandawana winning the African Champions League 3-1 on aggregate in Egypt, the Soweto Derby six days later brought us down to earth with a bump at a near-full FNB Stadium on Saturday. Bafana's home clash with Senegal may well be the next hammer blow, though we pray for World Cup qualification fervently.

Saturday saw yet another 0-0 Drawby, another display of inept finishing, another 90mins of curious refereeing from Victor Gomes. The giants of the PSL somehow managed to overcome the self-glorifying hype to grind our optimism in to the dust with a series of wayward shots from distance, long balls out of defence, poor touches and terrible tackles.

It got all the razzmatazz of course. While the commentators at SABC and SuperSport didn’t bother to travel to Alexandria for the Champions League final and the touch-screen was switched off, the Soweto Derby got it all.

While Sundowns fans had to wait TWO DAYS to hear from the first South African EVER to win the African Champions League, we had Steve Komphela, Muhsin Etrugral and dozens more talking utter nonsense at length on Saturday evening.

KaboYellow fans might have been confused seeing failed Bafana Bafana coach Ephraim “Shaky” Mashaba talking about “football intelligence” after their side had conquered Africa, while not hearing from Pitso Mosimane. SuperSport made an utter nonsense of the biggest night for South African football in 20 years.

But listening to the commentators (between SuperSport suffering yet another series of broadcast glitches), the analysts, the coaches and the players, you’d have thought the Soweto Derby was a scintillating display of attacking football, far more important than any crusade for continental conquest.

Admittedly there were chances at the FNB Stadium. Early on, Thabo Rakhale had no intention of challenging Itumeleng Khune one-on-one, he prefers showboating. Pule Epstein’s volley just before half-time nearly hit Uranus. And the REAL chance of a goal, when Bernard Morrison was pulled down by Lorenzo Gordinho with 10 minutes left, saw Victor Gomes, for the first time since Jesus was a lad, fail to give a penalty when it looked deserved.

Sizwe Mabena told us “this game had everything” while Komphela and Etrugral announced they were “delighted” with the “passion” while blathering on about a point won rather than 2 points squandered. Neither of them gambled with a second striker, preferring instead to stick to the old Soweto Derby adage: “We cannot lose” rather than “We must win”.

We were treated to a few seconds of Komphela and Etrugral talking Turkish, which probably made more sense than most of what we heard on Saturday afternoon. With temperatures rising to 36 degrees, what did we expect from a 3.30pm kick-off during a heat-wave?

Then we could talk about Sundowns being forced to kick-off at 6pm on their grand return against Polokwane City in the Telkom KO on Thursday. Ridiculous from the PSL and SuperSport. No crowd, no fanfare, no nothing.

But hey, how can I be so negative when the CHAMPIONS OF AFRICA are off to Japan for the World Club Cup next month? Let’s just forget the Soweto Derby. And look forward (hopefully) to Masandawana v Real Madrid in a final which could be worth R80m to Pitso's squad.

And… relax.

Conquering Africa the Pitso way: Sundowns travel to Egypt with stars in their eyes

THE GOOD, THE DAB AND THE UGLY: Pitso Mosimane

"WHEN WE PLAY LIKE THIS, NOBODY IN SOUTH AFRICA CAN LIVE WITH US. NOBODY ON THE AFRICAN CONTINENT"

Pitso Mosimane, Mamelodi Sundowns

Saturday was a good day to be South African. A week after Bafana Bafana and the Springboks had let down the nation, after a week where Thuli Madonsela, angry students and cunning politicians had left us reeling, the Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville provided more than a little solace.

The first leg of the African Champions League final was not expected to be a massive triumph, a glorious goal-fest. Pitso Mosimane was supposed to ensure his mighty Mamelodi Sundowns did not concede at home against Egyptian giants Zamalek. Nobody expected THREE GOALS from Masandawana. Even in my guise as the White Sangoma I only predicted a 2-0 win, and that felt optimistic.

But surpassing all expectations, Sundowns put the Egyptians, for all their continental pedigree, to the sword. Like the Sphinx, the White Knights had their noses throughly put out of joint.

The first goal, coming after 31 minutes of KaboYellow domination, was an absolute beauty. Hlompho Kekana, one of FOUR South African nominees for the CAF African-based player of the year, did the assisting with a wonderful ball to put the Liberian through.

But it was the wonderfully named Anthony Snoti Laffor, first brought to South Africa by Jomo Sono 11 years ago, who did the finishing. The 31-year-old, for so long an afterthought in the Sundowns strike force, simply rammed the ball home to lift a near-full stadium in to yellow mellow.

With Cuthbert Malajile gone to BidvestWits and his replacement Sibusiso Vilakazi not eligible for Champions League selection, Laffor has grabbed his chances with both hands before and after the ankle injury picked up by Colombian Leo Castro.

Laffor’s strike was followed by Tebogo Langerman’s speculative cross dropping in to the net over El-Shenawy’s desperate grasp before half-time. Few would claim it was shot, but they all count and 2-0 at the break was the least Sundowns deserved for their dominance.

Seconds in to the second half, Percy Tau saw his effort across the face of goal deflected home for a crucial own-goal.

And that was it. Zamalek, awful in the heat and altitude, looked completely unprepared. Their coach complained afterwards about Mosimane moving the kick-off to 3pm when they are used to playing in the evenings.

But that’s the point of continental football: make the away trip as grim as you can. Zamalek produced some sort of fight back in the second half, knowing an away goal could change the complexion completely.

But even the highly-rated Basem Morsy couldn’t manage it, shackled as he was by Wayne Arendse, who might have pulled the 24-year-old out of his pocket at the final whistle, such was his iron grip on the Egyptian striker.

Pitso, who laughed afterwards when he was asked if he'd take a job in Egypt, was in top form: "Toe-to-toe we are strong. We'll play the same way in Egypt. They can't deal with it. Nobody on the continent can deal with us when we play like this. But we must keep our feet on the ground.

“I don't like the celebrations happening today today but it's a one-off. The players must enjoy it. We are copying Orlando Pirates, they are the best team in South Africa, we are just behind them.”

Looking at the colourful KaboYellow concrete bowl, where the atmosphere was humming, he grinned:  "We've never had this. The crowd. The yellow. It's okay for players to enjoy it. When Sundowns plays like this, not easy for any team.

"I've been in football for long. We have the advantage, we scored the goals but IT'S NOT OVER.”

Beg to differ Pitso. No away goal conceded. Three scored. Zamalek need a miracle of dodgy referees, lasers and riots to get close. Or Gavin Hunt of course!

Conquering Africa the Sundowns way: Pitso Mosimane defies the odds once more

SPECIAL ONE: Mosimane with one eye on Mourinho

"IS THIS STILL THE BACK DOOR?" Pitso Mosimane, Mamelodi Sundowns.

Before a ball has been kicked, the 2016 African Champions League final has to go down as one of the most bizarre in the competition’s history.

Oryx Douala of Cameroon won the very first continental club championship back in 1965 and South African clubs have always struggled to make their mark - Orlando Pirates famously won it in 1995, reaching the final again just three years ago. The Buccaneers apart, Mamelodi Sundowns are the only other PSL side to get that far, losing in the 2001 final to Egypt’s Al Ahly.

The pesky Cairo-based rivals have dominated the competition. The “Red Devils” of Al Ahly holding the record of eight wins (1982, 1987, 2001, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2013) and the “White Knights’ of Zamalek have done it five times (1984, 1986, 1993, 1996 and 2002).

Saturday night saw Zamalek, apparently coasting to the final after a 4-0 home win, lose 5-2 to Wydad Casablanca, who had sacked veteran Welsh coach John Toshack after the first leg.

Incredibly Wydad were 5-1 up with 26 minutes left, needing just one more goal to go through when Zamalek’s Nigerian Stanley Ohawuchi sealed the deal for the White Knights.

But what about Sundowns? They were 2-1 down after the first leg in Ndola against Zesco United, attempting to become Zambia’s second finalists after Nkana Red Devils, who lost on penalties way back in 1990.

Needing a 1-0 win to survive on away goals, Liberian Anthony Laffor got that vital strike before locally-produced Percy Tau sealed the deal - though an away goal for Zesco, who hit the woodwork, would have forced a draw even at 2-0.

Having been knocked out of the Champions League before the group stages by AS Vita and then the CAF Confederations Cup by Medeama, Sundowns - reinstated when it was found Vita had fielded an ineligible player - journey to the final is unique in world football.

But their form since then gives real reason for optimism for South Africans hoping for a first continental triumph in 21 years. After an opening 2-1 win at Algeria’s ES Setif - who were disqualified for crowd violence after the match - Pitso Mosiman’s men beat Zamalek home and away to qualify for the semi-finals with plenty to spare in Group B. 

Mosimane, the former Bafana Bafana national coach, was headed off to watch Copa America when Sundowns were given their lifeline back in to the competition. Many of his players were on holiday and had to be recalled for the opening Group B game in Algeria.

After a rare three game winless streak, Sundowns came back to reach both the domestic MTN8 and CAF finals in the space of four days. Pitso explained: “It’s very difficult for a team to beat Sundowns home and away, over 180 minutes you need to be very good.

“But the boys did very well. Feet on the ground, one step at a time. Sugar Mabunda unbelievable. Percy Tau scored, I’m happy. I’ve been needing this goal. Percy scores in Champions League, and he scores with his head in Champions League.

“As long as they our fans support us, as long as they sing their lungs out, the boys respond. We kept consistent at home. Two goals and a clean sheet.

“Zesco is a very good team and playing in Ndola and Atteridgeville are totally different stories. I think the boys deserve credit, they’ve done very well”

“We’ve been playing football for 15 months, non-stop, it’s not possible, and that’s why we are not fresh as usual.

Mosimane had words for Manchester United fans, who also recovered from a three-game slump this week: “Jose Mourinho issued a statement because he lost three games. If he was in South Africa, do you know what would have happened? They would have asked him for a meeting, for a technical report, he must explain why the team is not winning.

“But this is the licence that we get from Manchester United to say ‘don’t write us off’ and let’s keep going. So, against all odds, a luta continua, vitoria certa, we don’t need anybody’s favour.”

“We came from nowhere and on holiday to the cup final, we deserve it. I know they said we went through the back door, but I don’t know how we qualified for the final … is this still the back door?”

A NIGHT TO REMEMBER: how Pitso's Mamelodi Sundowns confounded the continent

MIRACLE IN ALGERIA: Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane

Today I come to praise Pitso Mosimane. As one of those football addicts who stayed up way beyond midnight last Saturday night, it was a memorable 90 minutes on the Mamelodi Sundowns roller-coaster. Did I say memorable? Make that  bloody miraculous!

After a long day which featured come-from-behind wins for Bafana Bafana (on penalties over Lesotho in the COSAFA quarter-finals), a missed penalty for Cristiano Ronaldo (in another fascinating failure for Portugal) and a first win for Allister Coetzee’s Springboks, it was entirely unexpected.

We burned the midnight oil expecting to see another brave failure in Africa from our PSL champions. When they got to 20 minutes at 0-0, I tweeted that the match situation was already better than expected.

Truth is, our KaboYellow title winners went to Algeria with little to hope against their 2015 champions ES Setif. To list the problems for South Africa’s leading club in full would require several pages, but let’s just say their preparations weren’t ideal, they didn't expect to be in Africa, contracts need settling, new blood has yet to arrive.

In goal, Wayne Sandilands found himself thrust in front of a packed May 18th 1945 Stadium (read more about that name at the foot of this story) as a late stand-in for PSL goalkeeper of the year Dennis Onyango of Uganda and Kennedy Mweene of Zambia.

In midfield, with Bongani Zungu off to Portugal, Tiyani Mabunda need a last-minute visa application to get him out of the country for his continental debut. A word too for Leonardo Castro, who opted to return from Colombia to help out despite the imminent end of his one-year deal in Tshwane.

Whispers told us central defender Ramahlwe Mphahlele was left at home chewing over a move to Kaizer Chiefs, striker Anthony Laffour had “disciplinary problems” and it felt like Pitso Mosimane's usually impeccable preparation was in disarray.

With Ramadan to consider, the game didn’t start until after 11pm, no South African club has ever kicked off so late. And of course, no club has EVER played in the African Champions League group phase after being knocked out of both continental tournaments - only the disqualification of AS Vita Club had landed them back in Africa’s most important cup competition.

And Sundowns previous trips to North Africa hardly instilled confidence. Remember 0-4 against Tunisia’s CF Faxien, 0-3 against Egypt’s Al Ahli, 2-4 to Sudan’s Al Hilal?

They trotted out in Setif, memorable only for football and a massacre (105 were shot dead by French police on May 8, 1945) with a record of six defeats and two draws in their previous eight games north of the equator.

What was it Pitso said a few weeks ago about travelling north? "You see how it is. It's a jungle."

Under pressure from the first whistle to the last, we witnessed a 90 minute miracle. An away win to start a qualifying process Sundowns should never have been involved in.

First the long-suffering Mabunda silenced the rowdy crowd with a stunning first half goal against the run of play. Then, playing on the transition, the tireless Keagan Dolly - hero of Bafana’s only AFCON 2017 win against Gambia - finally threaded a ball through to PSL player of the season Khama Billiat.

The priceless Zimbabwean wove his magical thread through the Algerian defence and stuck it away. At 2-0, an unthinkable victory was confirmed. Setif had barely forced a save out of the impeccable Sandilands.

And then, in injury-time, a roar from the outraged fans, loud bangs from thrown fireworks and a full-scale pitch invasion. Chaos as Sundowns sought shelter by the bench. Fearful Setif players stayed on the pitch, looking on with some trepidation but trying to re-assure the opposition of safe passage from the stadium.


Footage of the trouble HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xX4EPod8avQ




Though our SuperSport and SABC commentators were doing their best from studios in Johannesburg, we were not granted visuals of the missiles thrown, the security guards trying to keep control.

Referee Mahamadou Keita from Mali, who did Sundowns few favours on an historic night, tried to get the match restarted but in the end, the final whistle went amid the chaos.

Much will be said, hopefully by SAFA to CAF, about a night of high drama and crowd chaos which, like the trouble at Euro2016, must be punished.

But this week, let’s just bask in the glory of South Africa’s finest Champions League performance in years. With Nigerians Enyimba at home on June 29. Pitso and Sundowns can finally give the nation something to shout about.

To read about the horrific events of May 8, 1945 in Setif: http://5pillarsuk.com/2015/05/08/8th-may-1945-remembering-algerias-setif-massacre/

South African football is in crisis, and here's why (includes video)

ONCE A PIRATE: Irvin Khoza, PSL chairman

DISKI Mzanzi is in crisis. South African football faces falling attendances, a dying transfer market, a merry-go-round of FOURTEEN coaching changes in a 16-team league.


We have barely recovered from an AFCON which saw Bafana garne JUST A SINGLE POINT when both of our African Champions League "giants" - leaders Kaizer Chiefs and current PSL champions Mamelodi Sundowns - went crashing out in the first round.


There were no refereeing blunders, there was no intimidation, just humiliation. Failure.



This morning on the South African 24-hour news channel ANN7 (205 on your DSTV bouquet) I appeared on Peter van Onselen's "Phuka" morning show in an attempt to get across the true depth of the crisis facing our game. Though my football writing colleagues will rail against it and Twitter will issue threats, it's only the truth.



Denigrating South African football is not my agenda. Improvement, change, even revolution is needed. Just like Issa Hayatou, PSL chairman Irvin Khoza, the man who took over Orlando Pirates in the early 1990s, is in his late 60s and has been in charge of the game in this country for over 20 years.


And quite apart from the problems highlighted above, Khoza runs a club which closed its academy due to age cheating, he has refused to promote Eric Tinkler from his caretaker role despite unprecedented success and though his club pulls in MILLIONS in sponsorship, he refuses to spend money on his team.

He can't even run his club properly, let alone the PSL. And I am reliably informed it was Khoza who dictated the new conditions for agents in this country after FIFA's recommended treatment for "intermediaries"... though the legislation promised on April 1 has failed to materialise.


This is not an anti-Khoza rant, just a polite request for change. For truth. Though the South African media big guns - particularly Robert Marawa, Thomas Mlambo and the excitable Sunday Times "sports editor" BBK - will deny it, our game is not healthy.


As I say in the video below, our clubs don't scout for players, the rely on agents. Though there is a reputed R14,000-a-month minumum wage in the PSL, many youngsters are on a fraction of that. I know of one who has played 10 first team games this season and is on R2,000 a month. Another who played for Bafana at COSAFA and is on R6000... about the level of a supermarket shelf stacker.


From the bottom to the top - where Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates join billionaire Patrice Motsepe's Sundowns as the only clubs in the financial comfort zone - were are watching our game fall apart. There is no investment, no marketing, no sign of grass roots growth from Danny Jordaan's infamous FIFA Legacy Fund, a R500m post-World Cup 2010 bonus.


I don't expect everyone to agree with me, but it would be handy if a few people opened their eyes to the truth. Dr Khoza himself has acknowledged the influence of agents on our national head coaches; we have done NOTHING to establish who was involved in the pre-World Cup match-fixing scandal... SAFA won't even discuss their two most recent promises of a Technical Director and a statue for the murdered captain Senzo Meyiwa.



I don't make these things up. I don't enjoy endless repetition of the negative. But SOMETHING MUST BE DONE.

CLOUT OF AFRICA: Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs crash out: two very different tales, one conclusion

Good night South Africa: Pitso Mosimane in DRC yesterday

And so the South African dream of Champions League progress has stuttered to a halt AGAIN. And the questions will be asked AGAIN. And the truth will be avoided AGAIN.

As PSL leaders Kaizer Chiefs and our defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns crashed out at Raja Casablanca in Morocco and TP Mazembe in the DRC, the sound of collective groans could be heard around Mzanzi as our precious diski folded under pressure once more.

The SuperSport commentators suggested from the off in Morocco that everything was against Kaizer Chiefs. It wasn’t. The AmaKhosi were the better side in both legs. They just can’t score goals. With no live television coverage again from Lumbumbashi, similar sentiments were echoed as Sundowns were crushed.

For Patrice Motsepe’s millionaires it was always going to be Mission Improbable. Pitso Mosimane said before the game: “If the officials do their job, we are through,” sadly that was never going to happen. A 3-2 aggregate defeat ensued.

After the 1-0 home win in Tshwane – which included a red card for the visitors – Masandawana found themselves 3-0 down after 57 minutes against TP Mazembe. And it was all they could do to produce a late consolation from Percy Tau against a side unbeaten in their domestic league after six games and just a point behind the leaders.

For Chiefs it was a slightly different version of the same sad tale. Beaten 1-0 in Durban in the first leg, they came up against a side currently in crisis. Raja Casablanca have lost their last two and are 12 points adrift of their city rivals in Morocco’s domestic league. But it made no difference.

Morgan Gould, mysteriously booked early on, was off injured after 43 goalless minutes and on came Tower Mathoho, mysteriously dropped from the starting line-up amidst a strong campaign so far.

Up front Golden Boot holder Bernard Parker – who has already been overtaken by New Zealander Jeremy Brockie in the PSL goal-scoring stakes this season – laboured next to the eternally risky Matty Rusike.

We can mention two moments: George Lebese’s glaring miss when through on goal early in the second-half and Gaxa’s ridiculous attempt to control a throat-high ball in his own box which led to the Raja goal. But that’s not the point. They were the better side and lost 3-0 on aggregate.

The usual excuses are already being wheeled out, but Roger De Sa – the coach who guided Orlando Pirates to the African Champions League final two short years ago – will tell you South Africa is continually fighting an uphill battle in CAF competitions.

While we invite our northern rivals to plush hotels with good facilities, PSL clubs travel north filled with trepidation for the away leg. While we struggle to pull crowds of 7000 at home, the African giants fill their stadia for every Champions League clash.

In truth, the truth we never dare tell, South Africa football – though shiny on the outside – is just not at the races. Our marketing is criminally negligent, the sponsorship money goes to pockets rather than development and foreign players are booed at every opportunity. Further north, they revere great players regardless of passport, they pump money in to the club, they establish academies, proper transfers and sharp agents are at work, regardless of whether their cut is 3 percent or 10.

In REAL football nations, the coaches work with football directors and club owners to create an outfit capable of continental domination – they don’t stand open-mouthed when a new signing appears, injured and unknown.

If AFCON 2015 and it’s meagre one-point haul wasn’t enough to wake us up, then the failure of BOTH our African Champions League hopefuls at the first hurdle has to be an alarm bell. Surely it’s time for change. At all levels.

It's not just the Champions League embarrassment is it, SAFA? We have match-fixing allegations STILL unsolved, we have a R350m FIFA World Cup legacy fund STILL missing; The much-hyped Senzo Meyiwa statue STILL not evident; the Technical Director STILL nameless.


Yes, I'm ranting. Because nothing is done. When Irvin Khoza tells SAFA how to deal with "intermediaries" we are left with a game that has no hope. No His own club, Orlando Pirates, has no visible academy while we hype  junior tournament run by a man arrested at last year's World Cup.

Khoza is the one who issued a decree saying agents can no longer claim more than 3 percent for deals, but his club relies on agents not scouts for new players. No other FA in the world made such decisions in the light of the new FIFA recommendations on "intermediaries"... now only the second-rate agents, who do dodgy deals with clubs and scalp players, will survive.


Danny Jordaan, no longer the new president, issues statements designed to please, but that's as far as it goes. There has been no real progress. All Danny has managed so far is to get Shakes Mashaba to pick our European-based stars after that disastrous AFCON, and even then Kamohelo Mokotjo flew back to FC Twente having sat on the bench for the entire 90 minutes against Nigeria last week.

These aren't just my complaints. I speak to coaches, players, agents. All are in agreement. The Champions League debacle follows on from the AFCON failure; the need for a decent striker permeates South African football. How about a "Search for a Scorer" reality TV show? How about employing Robbie Fowler or Michael Owen to come to South Africa and run goal-scoring sessions?


But no. We'll stick to Q innovation and an Asidlali boasting elderly has-beens; we'll put Owen Da Gama and Thabo Senong in charge of our youngsters despite questionable qualifications.


We'll let the small PSL clubs fall apart while the giants rake in the cash and refuse to splash out. We'll let PSL attendances fall below an average of 6,000 for the first time but keep the figures quiet, hoping nobody will notice.


And we'll let a couple of agents anonymously keep out fire coaches on the merry-go-round, ignoring the need for qualifications and quality CVs. Middendorp in, Middendrop out; Rosslee up, Rosslee down. It's a joke.


But the football writers will pat each other on the back. Choose their targets and favourites according to their particular biases. Back the status quo. Defend the Iron Duck, Bobby and Danny. And we'll never be a footballing nation. Never.

Pitso Mosimane is no joke: Sundowns could be level with Kaizer Chiefs by Sunday

Always happy to make his point: Pitso Mosimane

Pitso Mosimane makes us laugh. Pitso Mosimane makes us cry. But for all his post-match entertainment, it’s time to stop treating the 49-year-old Mamelodi Sundowns coach as a joke.

After Tuesday night’s emphatic 3-1 defeat of Platinum Stars – only Alan Freese’s second defeat at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium this season – Masandawana are now just three points behind Kaizer Chiefs, though the holders have a game in hand.

With Chiefs caught in the middle of an African Champions League firestorm – they lost 3-0 against AS Vita in Kinshasa last week and face an improbable mission to claw that deficit back at Soccer City on Saturday – the AmaKhosi have plenty to worry about.

And Mosimane will be waiting to pounce at the slightest hiccup. Goals from Surprise Moriri, Anthony Laffor and Lebohang Mokoena – prompted by a resurgence from Teko Modise in Khama Billiat’s injury-enforced absence – enabled Sundowns to do what Stuart Baxter couldn’t against the Dikwena a few weeks ago, when Chiefs lost 2-0 in the North West.

And, as always, Mosimane entertained us with his post-match analysis. Already he’s talked this season about his players “eating grass and sweating blood” but this time we were told: "I have never worked so hard on one game like this. I have never spent so long on my little CD player in the bus.

"This was the game I really wanted to win, it was so important. Coming here before and playing Platinum Stars, we haven't gotten what we deserve. Tonight we got respect.

"Yes, this was one of my best games at Sundowns. Tactically we were spot on. We killed their wingplay, we closed them down, we were pressing from the top.

"This one I've earned, I give the credit to… myself."

It’s tempting to laugh when Pitso comes out with such self-glorifying clap-trap. But think about it. Mosimane’s Sundowns were too much for Dutch legend Johan Neeskens. He couldn’t cope with the pressure of running megarich Patrice Motsepe’s millionaires, just like Bulgarian Hristo Stoichkov and Spaniard Antonio Lopez Habas before him.

With a host of coaches, accountants, managers and technicians putting their oar in, Sundowns have failed to win the PSL title since the glory years of 2006 and 2007 when they won back-to-back championships.

Sacked: Bafana boss Pitso

Pitso himself spent six years at neighbouring SuperSport United, only to leave in service of his country, allowing Gavin Hunt to surge to THREE successive PSL titles  with Matsatsantsa a Pitori immediately after Mosimane’s departure.

Mosimane served as Bafana’s caretaker and as an assistant under Carlos Alberto Parreira and Joel Santana in the build-up to the 2010 World Cup, dealing with language problems, misinformation and high expectations before he was fired for narrowly failing to qualify, despite that awful victory dance, for AFCON 2012 (he unfairly took the blame for misreading the rules) and drawing with Ethiopia at home in the first game of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.

But in truth, Mosimane’s 24-month reign as national coach wasn’t that bad at all. In 16 attempts, He won six, drew seven and lost just three, a record as good as any who have attempted to steer the national side in the right direction since the heady days of 1996.

Now he stands on the verge of greatness once more. He won the Super 8 (2004) and Nedbank Cup (2005) at SuperSport and has steadied the ship with a Nedbank Cup semi-final appearance last season after taking over from Neeskens.

But the PSL title would cap anything he has achieved before, not bad for a bloke who grew up playing “street football” on the dusty roads of Kagiso as a kid.

Pitso was spotted as a player at amateur outfit Rockville Hungry Lions by Jomo Sono and Stanley “Screamer” Tshabalala, making his deut for Jomo Cosmos at 18 before he became the most expensive player in the country when he moved to Mamelodi Sundowns – who else? – in 1985.

He won the League and Mainstay Cup double that season but returned to Cosmos, where he scored 11 goals in their only title-winning season, 1987.

After a brief stint at Orlando Pirates, in 1989, Pitso played in Greece for six years at Ionikos FC before playing for Begium’s Rita Berlaar and Qatar’s Al Saad FC Doh. He was capped four times by South Africa and scored on his debut against against Mauritius in the African Cup of Nations Qualifiers in 1993.

Pitso Mosimane started his coaching career in 1999 at the Soweto football academy Barney Molokane – SuperSport took four of his players and eventually Mosimane himself, first as a scout, then as head coach in 2000.

He was named South Africa’s Coach of the Year in the 2004/2005 season  but in 14 years of trying, he has yet to win the big one. As he so eloquently put it after the 4-1 Nedbank Cup win over Golden Arrows last weekend: “The team is good. The team is strong. The team shows integrity. A lot of people are writing us off.

“We wish we could make everybody happy, but we are okay. We are on the road all the time. We are building on the road and collecting victories. We will see.”

With AmaTuks to play on Sunday, Sundowns could be level with Chiefs before we know it. And nobody will be laughing.

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The trouble with a treble: Kaizer Chiefs fighting on three fronts with VV and the Soweto Derby looming

Knowledge is Power: Musona celebrates

STUART BAXTER’s task becomes clearer – but trickier – every week. The closer the Kaizer Chiefs head coach gets to his goals, the darker the clouds will get. That's the trouble with a treble, even when you're on a 17-game unbeaten streak.

Yes, his on-loan Zimbabwean goal-poacher Knowledge Musona thumped home a first-half hat-trick in Maputo on Saturday – not that any of the local broadcasters bothered to televise the AmaKhosi’s emphatic 3-0 win against Liga Muculmana – and Baxter’s men cruised through to the second round 7-0 on aggregate.

But on Sunday, our Chiefs were greeted by news of an unwelcome trip to the Democratic Republic of Congo when AS Vita saw off Zimbabwe’s own “Glamour Boys” Dynamos 1-0 in Kinshasa after a goalless first leg in Harare.

The Knowledge hat-trick, missed by SABC and SuperSport, is HERE!


We all remember the last time a South African side went to the DRC on Champions League duty. Orlando Pirates went through hell at TP Mazembe at the same stage last year, with television black-outs, detained journalists, bogus red cards and TWO dodgy penalties.

But hey, Pirates survived and went on to the Group Stages and that stirring African Champions League final defeat against Al Ahly. And who’s to say Kaizer Chiefs can’t do the same?

Sure, the ankle ligaments twisted by Bafana Bafana’s No1 Itumeleng Khune won’t help matters, but they’ve got back-up. Former Nike talent search winner Reyaad Pieterse has been strong in Africa, earning the nickname “David James” (after the former England and Liverpool goalkeeper) and failing that, Baxter can turn to former AmaZulu stopper Brilliant Khuzwayo, who cut his teeth in the Under 23 national squad.

But now, with that trip to the DRC to come, Baxter must attend to his domestic duties. The Nedbank Cup has to be defended – and so does the PSL title after last season’s double in a glorious first season at Naturena for Wolverhampton-born “Mbax”.

Despite that six point lead at the top of the table, Baxter won’t be taking Alan Freese and his Platinum Stars for granted tomorrow (Wednesday) night at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium. Dikwena already have the MTN8 and Telkom KO in the bag this season, under-estimate them at your peril.

And then, the Soweto Derby on Saturday. Hold everything. The Ides of March put paid to Julius Caesar a few thousand years ago and arch-rivals Pirates have two potential back-stabbers: Serbian coach Vladimir Vermecovic is ready to use his shiny new work permit and Bafana striker Lehlonololo Majoro can hardly score less than his peers at arch-rivals Pirates.

As we said last week here, the presence of those two former Chiefs employess alone promises a lively derby at Soccer City, regardless of the Buccaneers’ limp 1-0 defeat against AmaTuks over the weekend.

With East London's Buffalo to come in the Nedbank Cup and both Bidvest Wits and Mamelodi Sundowns closing the gap at the top of the table, Baxter knows how difficult it will be to maintain that unbeaten run – which dates back to November 5 and the start of my current beard – on three fronts.

He grins: “We were so professional in Maputo, it’s hard when you go into a game winning 4-0 but we kept our motivation and concentration.

“We changed the way we normally play, we wanted to make it a test. We played with the 3 centre backs in case we want to use that when we are on the road in the rest of Africa. Our plan worked perfectly.

"Ask a big club anywhere in the world about their ambition and the answer will be the same. We are an ambitious club. Like other big clubs we go into each tournament to win.”

 Can they compete on three fronts? Can any big club? Yes. You can do just about anything when you've got a form guide reading WWWWWWWWWDDWWWW. 

BOLLOCKZ! my innovative football show on www.ballz.co.za airs every Thursday from 9am-11am. See Ballz' channel for our growing library of fascinating football interviews with the big names. 

You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol for all the latest sports news… and read my “Neal & Pray” column every Tuesday in www.thenewage.co.za.

BOLLOCKZ! is backed by www.topodds.com - have a look at their site for my latest sports betting advice and charity bets for our Wingzofchange charity! 

AFRICAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE SPECIAL: How Kaizer Chiefs can reach the group stages. With great difficulty

The long and winding road: for Chiefs boss Stuart Baxter

THE African Champions League remains a mystery to our football-loving folk. For too long, it was a pain in the neck for our PSL winners. For nearly a decade, South Africa let the biggest prize on the continent go nearly unmarked.

But after Orlando Pirates' sensational progress to last year’s final, surely it’s time to put our local Champions League back where it belongs? As the rand slips globally, the $1.5m prize-money is starting to look like a reason in itself, with the runners-up earning $1m.

With the 50^th edition of the tournament now well underway, debate rages on the social networks about exactly what Kaizer Chiefs do from here after their preliminary round triumph over Namibia’s Black Africa.

It’s simple. Two more rounds over two legs to reach the Group Stages. But it promises to be unbelievably tough.

Last season, Orlando Pirates beat Djabal from the Comoros in the preliminary round, with a 5-0 win at home added to a 4-0 away win in a 9-0 drubbing.

Then the Buccaneers came up against dangerous Zambian champions Zanaco in the first round proper. An impressive 1-0 away win was followed by a 2-1 win at Orlando – remember Mpho Makola’s free-kick? The 3-1 aggregate win was a welcome triumph; people from beyond the Ghost started to sit up and take notice.

It was the second round which so nearly derailed the Pirates. First came the surprise 3-1 home win over DRC’s all-conquering TP Mazembe. The now-departed Onyekachi Okonkwo and two from Zambia's now unfancied Collins Mbesuma did the job, but after the game, the referee was punched by a visiting official, who escape despite attention from the South African Police.

That was just a clue to what was to come.

The away game in Lubumbashi goes down as Roger de Sa’s greatest achievement. The SABC’s television coverage was blacked out, journalists were detained, veteran captain Lucky Lekgwathi was sent off and two dubious penalties were saved by an ever-improving Senzo Meyiwa. A miracle… and they were in to the group stages with TWO Egyptian giants and the TP Mazembe fans cheered the team off.

That much is history.

To get that far in 2014, our runaway PSL leaders Kaizer Chiefs will have to achieve similar feats.

First up, amateurs Black Africa were destroyed 3-0 at Soccer City before Saturday’s 1-1 draw in Windhoek. Not quite as easy as it looked against a bunch of lads who admitted to being AmaKhosi in their spare time.

But now the road through Africa becomes far tougher.

Next up for Baxter and his men? It’s a mouthful: Liga Desportivo Muçulmana de Maputo, otherwise known as LDMM or Liga Maculmana.

One of the richest clubs in a nation rapidly rising up the economic ladder, LDMM won the Moçambola (Mozambique’s top division) for the first time in 2010. They’ve won it twice since, in 2011 and 2013.

The good news? They’ve never got beyond the first round in the Champions League and have just one Brazilian – a goalkeeper called Caio Venâncio – and a couple of Ghanaians. They also only managed a 1-0 aggregate win in the preliminary round over Madagascar’s CNaPS Sport.

Chiefs play LDMM with the first leg in a fortnight, the second over the weekend of 7-9 March.

And then the real challenge: Zimbabwe champions Dynamos or AS Vita from the Congo with both legs played before the end of March.

Dynamos, known as Harare’s “Glamour Boys” or “DeMbare” are essentially Zimbabwe’s Kaizer Chiefs, boasting an estimated 6million fans and 21 league titles. Eight of their players featured in the CHAN tournament in South Africa last month, where Zimbabwe reached the semi-finals.

AS Vita are no mugs either, with five African Champions League performances to their name. The away leg promises to be as spectacularly difficult as TP Mazembe were for Orlando Pirates.

Stuart Baxter knows how hard it’s going to be. Pirates achieved the improbable last season and Chiefs are not quite firing on all cylinders, having ended their nine-game winning run with a draw against Maritzburg last week.

Baxter grins: “I think Buddha said that success is like licking honey from a sword. The more you lick it, the closer you get to the day you cut your throat. I hope that day is about three months away … we will do our best.”

BOLLOCKZ! my innovative football show on www.ballz.co.za airs every Thursday from 9am-11am. See Ballz' channel for our growing library of fascinating football interviews with the big names. 

You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol for all the latest sports news… and read my “Neal & Pray” column every Tuesday in www.thenewage.co.za.

BOLLOCKZ! is backed by www.topodds.com - have a look at their site for my latest sports betting advice and charity bets for our Wingzofchange charity! 

EXCLUSIVE: IF THEY WANT ME TO GO, WHO'S SAFE? Orlando Pirates boss Roger de Sa on three finals, Dauda and CHAN

Roger that: De Sa will not quit

ROGER DE SA responded to demands for his head today with characteristic aplomb, saying: “If they want me to go, who’s safe?”

Talking on my football show BOLLOCKZ! on www.ballz.co.za this morning (see video below), the Orlando Pirates coach insisted he was “satisfied” with his club’s unique achievement of reaching THREE cup finals before Christmas.

And the 49-year-old former international goalkeeper insists he aims to reach ALL FOUR finals on offer this season – while lifting his side off the foot of the PSL as they make up a huge shortfall in fixtures after their African Champions League crusade.

Following Saturday’s defeat in the Telkom KO in Mbombela the social networks have been awash with calls for De Sa’s resignation with the 2-1 loss coming on top of defeat in the MTN8 and African Champions League finals.

Though he picked up over R13m in prize money for reaching those three finals, De Sa accepts: “Look, you’re never going to stop people from talking, that’s the way it is. Everybody’s entitled to their opinion. Whatever they want to say.

“But obviously yeah, look, I’m doing the job the best I can. We’ve had a fair amount of success. I’d like to finish it off, unfortunately we haven’t. Not for the lack of trying. Not that we’ve played badly.

“The guys are doing the best they can in a very congested season so far.

“I’m satisfied with what we’ve achieved, obviously I’m disappointed we haven’t won anything. Financially the club did well. We know we’re one step away from massive success.

On the day arch-rivals Kaizer Chiefs extended Stuart Baxter's contract until 2016, De Sa insists: “All we can do is keep on trying – and working towards the next cup final. Only two coaches have ever reached every cup final. I’ve got one more (the Nedbank Cup) to come!

“If they’re saying I must go, who’s safe? I won’t worry about the others. I’ve got to worry about myself and the job I’ve got to do.

“It’s not just the results, it’s the way we played, what we’ve achieved. I think about that all the time. In all three finals, I don’t believe we deserved to lose any of them. We weren’t out-played. In all three of them we had opportunities.

“My job is to make sure we play as well as we can. If a guy misses a goal, I can’t do anything about that, I’m on the sidelines.

“We’ve got to keep going, get to the next final. Our football has been pretty good, especially in Africa. The goal from Ngele to win it for Platinum Stars on Saturday was a cracker, you don’t often see that in South African football. Got to take my hat off to that. It’s good for the game.

“Before Ngele’s goals we should have sealed the game off a few times. We had chances.

“It’s a South African sickness. Who’re you going to blame? You’re not going to blame the superstar guy, with his poster on your wall. You’re going to blame the coach.

Ironically, Pirates restart their PSL campaign against Allan Freese’s Platinum Stars at the Royal Bafokeng Palace on Monday. Roger laughs: “I’ve thought hard about that. It might be the best thing that could have happened to us. At least now we’re playing the team that beat us in two cup finals.

“It should be easy to motivate them this time! Improve a few things in some areas, then have another go."

With Pirates technical director Stanley “Screamer” Tshabalala going public with demands Ghana No1 Fatau Dauda MUST play in goal on Monday, De Sa said: “Dauda is working extremely hard, he’s always in contention. The one thing that didn’t work in his favour was he wasn’t registered for the African Champions League. We had a lot of games where we had to be sure Brighton Mlongo and Senzo Meyiwa available.

“Senzo’s done a fantastic job. And Brighton is one for the future, no doubt about it.

“You need three goalkeepers. Dauda is playing right now in the second half of our training match. We are aware he needs to play to secure his place in the Ghana national team for the World Cup next year.

“But our priority is Pirates. We can’t worry too much about Ghana. Obviously, we’re not going to NOT give him an opportunity if the situation arises. The sooner the better. We WILL give him a chance.”

That could come during next month’s CHAN tournament, with Bafana Bafana only permitted to use players from their domestic league. On form, Pirates might expect to have as many as eight players in Gordon Igesund’s squad.

But will Pirates be happy to release players for the tournament, given that they are currently five or six games behind their rivals?

Roger admits: “We don’t know yet, we’re still waiting for the meeting between CAF and the PSL to see what the ruling’s going to be. I’m almost certain NONE of the clubs will want to release their players, particularly Pirates with such a congested fixture list.

“We’re probably going to be playing every third day – we don’t want to be caught short. It puts us in a very difficult position, we are aware of it. That’s why we’re trying to play these friendlies, to look at fringe players, make sure we have the depth to be competitive.”

BOLLOCKZ! my own football show on www.ballz.co.za, airs every Thursday from 9am. See the Ballz channel onwww.youtube.com for our growing collection of interviews with the big names in South African football.

You can also follow me on www.twitter.com/nealcol for all the latest sports news… and read my “Neal and Pray” column every Tuesday in www.thenewage.co.za.

BOLLOCKZ! is backed by www.topodds.com - have a look at their site for my latest sports betting advice and how we are doing in using @thumperpigeon's R5,000 to make money for the Ballz charity WINGZ OF CHANGE.