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?”

SuperSport United boss Cavin Johnson on Pirates, Pule and the problems that beset South African football

LOST DECADE: Jabu Pule in action for Chiefs, 2003

CAVIN JOHNSON insists his SuperSport United troops can upset Orlando Pirates in the Telkom Knock-out semi-final today.

SuperSport United coach Johnson, talking on my football show BOLLOCKZ! on www.ballz.co.za, said: “ I think we can take them. We have to give them respect, you can call them the Southern African champions right now after what they did in the African Champions League.

“We lost to them in the MTN8 on penalties, we allowed them back in to the game after going 1-0 up. But my players knew they were in with a chance.

“Pirates have gone and played a lot in Africa but I think we have a chance, we’re at home. The one thing I’ve taken notice of is how well Pirates played in the Champions League but the local game is a much faster game.

“We’ve prepared ourselves way, analysed their weaker points, we are ready. We’ve done everything we can.

“Chiefs or my old clubs Platinum Stars in the final? It really doesn’t matter!”

Johnson (see video below) also touched on the return of Jabu Pule to football – he is training with the SuperSport squad but at 33, can he make a footballing comeback after three years in retirement?

Johnson said: “Jabu is involved as an ex-player, trying to change the mentality of the people in Atteridgeville. We want to take the neighbourhood and make it ours. Draw the fans.

“But at the moment Jabu is training with us to get fit. It’s my own personal thing: everybody deserves a second chance.

“For what he’s done, I’ve known him for a while, going on television talking about drugs, drink, women – for me that’s a good sign. But if he gets a relapse he’s really in the kak.

“We use him as an amabassador for the club at the moment but Neal, he still has talent hey. He’s like Maradona, Gascoigne.”

Johnson was singularly unimpressed by Gordon Igesund’s latest international success, insisting:

“The 1-0 Bafana win over Spain did not excite me. I was at Soccer City on Tuesday. It does nothing for me, it does nothing for the country.

“I’m happy we beat the world champions but we needed to qualify for the World Cup. Spain didn’t come out of the starting blocks. And I don’t think Spain will go well in Brazil either, look at the Germans, Dutch, South Americans, they’re all flying.

“And yes, Khune did play well against Spain but with all respect, yah, wrong time. How about when we were playing the bloody Ethiopians. What mentality did we have. Walk in the park? You know what I’m saying?

“This is a South African problem. We have all the facilities, the best league in Africa, but we have a low grade mentality. It’s going to take a lot more than just natural footballers to fix that up. It’s going to take a generation of intelligent mothers and fathers to get it right.

“Now when I sign a player, I tell them I want to see their parents, the brothers and sisters. I want to know what kind of mentality they have, what support system, this is what I’m going to do with ALL the players I sign from now on.

“I want to see who they’re messing around with, whether they have played in the PSL for 20 years or are just coming up.

“With all respect, we have to lose now in order to win later. I cannot run players for two seasons, and then kick him out. That’s not fair.

“We have to change the culture of South African football.  I can get foreigners to kick the hell out of everyone, some gorillas to boot the opposition. Look at them, they earn a lot of money in this country. That’s easy.

“I’ll give you an example. When I was at Platinum Stars and we played in Bloemfontein or Durban, their families would be waiting by the bus with their hands out. Not to greet them, but to say “put the money in my hand”.

“That for me is frightening. I’m preparing the boys for football but they’re scared of having to hand out their money to their parents. They don’t even give moral support to these boys, they say they have no bread at home, no money at home.

“They say “give us the money now” they don’t care about football. We need people to understand that. The generation coming up have to master that like the Brazilians. They have worse problems than we do.”

“It happens to every country. Took them 25 years to win a World Cup but there is a slump immediately afterwards, there’s nothing they can do about that. It’s the beauty of football.

“Look at Germany now. They were ordinary 10-15 years ago, now look at the pace they play at. The Spanish game is going down.”

 BOLLOCKZ! my show on www.ballz.co.za, airs every Thursday from 9am. See the Ballz channel on www.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 Ball's charity WINGZ OF CHANGE.

Mor Diouf on THAT 70-yard super-strike: "I knew it was in. I've done it before"

Wonder goal: Mor Diouf, second left, is mobbed by team-mates

MOR DIOUF was a bit of a footballing journeyman until about 17h18 on Sunday afternoon in the otherwise quiet South African township of Atteridgeville. Then he became world famous as “Diouf the Hoof”  in a single, astonishing moment.

Like David Beckham, who scored from his own half in the last century, Diouf chose the 87^th minute of the Tshwane Derby (that’s Pretoria to the Voortrekkers) to produce his miracle and beat big-spending rivals Mamelodi Sundowns 1-0.

The SuperSport United defender from Senegal via Maritzburg United can take it from here: “I looked up. I saw the goalkeeper off his line. And I hit it. I did. I knew it was in from the moment I kicked the ball.”

Now 25, Diouf recalls scoring something similar for AS Douanes in his homeland as an 18-year-old: “Yes, I’ve done it once before. Same thing. Goalkeeper was not in the right place. But that one might have been from slightly closer. But I remember I was in my own half.”

Opinions vary on distance. The Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium is officially 105 metres long. That’s just about 115 yards in old money. Beckham’s goal for Manchester United against Wimbledon was estimated at 61 yards, but he was far closer to the halfway line on a Selhurst Park pitch officially 110 yards long.

After Diouf’s effort went global, the Sun produced THIS list of long-range strikes, all scored from the other half http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4836084/Top-10-goals-from-inside-own-half-like-David-Beckham.html

But clearly Diouf’s was longer, at 70 yards – and more important. The Beckham goal was scored, over the despairing head of goalkeeper Neil Sullivan, on August 17, 1996. Becks was 22 at the time. The hype surrounding his goal saw him make his debut for England a few weeks later against Moldova.

It is unlikely Diouf will rise to become the richest player in the world on the back of his strike. But at the time, United were 2-0 up after goals from Eric Cantona and Denis Irwin in the opening game of the season.

Diouf’s goal came after 87 minutes in a tight Tshwane derby in a desperate battle for points between two under-achieving sides this season. After the goalless Soweto derby the day before, it looked for all the world like South Africa was in for a dismal blank weekend. But then came the fateful moment.

Diouf, a quiet French-speaker who has not spoken to anybody else in the media despite this week’s rise to global prominence, told me: “My coach Gavin Hunt just came up to me afterwards and said: “Well done”. He said he knew it was going in. He ran the whole way along the touchline with it. He was very please, I think.

“But I’m telling you, it’s no big surprise! In training I often try it. Yes, even at training. Me? I don’t know but always the goalkeepers are off their line when the ball is in the other half. I don’t think goalkeepers like me very much now!

“But me? I think every time, when I have the ball or even a free-kick: is there a chance. I will always try.”

When I asked Mor if he was aware of his new nickname “Diouf the Hoof”, he laughed: “What is hoof? It means kick? I know it. I know I can kick a long way!”

The opposing goalkeeper Wayne Sandilands, in the South Africa squad for the African Cup of Nations earlier this year, had as many answers as Sullivan did after the Beckham effort.

He grinned:  "I thought I had nothing to lose by stepping out a bit because we had possession and were in their own half, pressing. My positioning wasn’t wrong at all and I think it was a perfect goal."

"It was a perfect work of art with God’s hand in it.”

The Sundowns crisis: sadly this is an attempted explanation, not a solution.

When will the Sun top going Down: Johan Neeskens

If there’s one thing Mamelodi’s long-suffering fans deserve, it’s an explanation of the deepening gloom at Sundowns.

On Saturday at the Lucas “Masterpieces” Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville, the most expensively assembled squad in the country slumped to yet another PSL defeat, this time a limp-wristed 1-0 surrender against Platinum Stars.

To their credit, after the attack on Johan Neeskens following the defeat at Moroka Swallows a week before, the fans took this one on the chin. Heavy security, one arrest and creeping fatalism appear to have calmed the Msandawana fans, once proud to follow South Africa’s answer to Brazil.

But they deserve an explanation for a run of eight games without a win since the streaky 1-0 victory over promoted Chippa United when they kicked off their PSL season on August 11.

In six league games since then, a strike force which includes some of the most expensive stars in the country has produced just two goals and a single point. They haven’t scored in 360 minutes of PSL action in a slide which sees only AmaZulu below the Brazilians in the table.

In the midst of all this, I met two men who know the inside story at Sundowns at a coffee shop not far from their Chloorkop training venue last week.

Though both could be considered to have their own agenda, the lurid tales of life under billionaire Patrice Motsepe made for a fascinating morning. Bank cards with R53million credit being used to buy drinks, Johan Cruyff’s academy being paid an annual R1million and meetings lasting deep in to the night, not all of them involving the unfortunate Neeskens.

Most worrying off all was the repeated claim that a “gang of former players and hangers-on” are constantly chipping away at the Dutch legend’s authority, talking to players behind his back, railing against a man who likes to be driven in the back seat by members of his highly-paid technical staff.

Two characters at the club like to involve themselves heavily in the transfer of players and the signing of contracts. They apparently feel foreign coaches don’t have a proper grip on their beloved club and believe Motsepe’s largesse should come their way rather disappearing off into a European bank account.

There were suggestions that a third man – a member of the Sundowns board with something of a track record – actually encourages fans to cause unrest and knows the individual who attacked Neeskens at Dobsonville.

I have names, but I won’t divulge them. Clearly such tales are nonsense, the fanciful imaginings of men with axes to grind. Possibly.

What can be said is this. General manager Kenneth Makhana has not be a great success, I have many twitterers calling for the return of his popular predecessor Natasha Tsichlas. The ever-growing technical team appear to be following their own agenda. The 30-strong squad is top heavy and over-burdened with midfielders and strikers.

Up front, Neeskens found himself greeted by a galaxy of stars after Trott Moloto’s busy off-season: somehow he managed to add the sought-after Edward Manqele and Eleazar Rodgers to a strike force which already included Emmanuel Baffour; Richard Tebogo Henyekane, Anthony Laffor, th nearly forgotten Kaltlego “Killer” Mphela and Nyasha Mushekwi, the Zimbabwean cup specialist who was denied a move to Furthe in the German Bundesliga.

Juggling with so many expensive acquisitions cannot have been easy for Neeskens, a man who has spent most of his career working as a No2 in highly-organised, cohesive structures.

There can be no question Neeskens has lost the dressing room. With Elias Pelembe given the weekend off for personal reasons at Atteridgeville on Saturday, Teko Modise looks to have lost the spark again, chances were missed, an acceptance of inferiority is creeping in.

And of course, Motsepe – a mining magnate with R23billion to play with – has problems underground of late. When he talks strikers, it has little to do with football these days.

He did find time to back Neeskens over the weekend. Before a “normal” meeting with the players, he announced: “Johan is a great coach. We’ve made it clear we believe in him, we support him.”

With the fans chanting for former Bafana boss Pitso Mosimane’s return, Motsepe added: “Our supporters must be educated. You win, lose or draw, you go through ups and downs. Those who threaten violence must not be allowed to enter our stadiums.”

So Neeskens is not under threat. And he’s not about to resign, despite the sharpening of vuvuzelas among some elements at the club. So there you are Sundowns fans, you have your explanation. But sadly, no solution.

Mamelodi Sundowns results this season:

06 Oct 2012	PSL	Mamelodi Sundowns	0–1	Platinum Stars	Lucas Moripe Stadium
30 Sep 2012	PSL	Moroka Swallows	2–0	Mamelodi Sundowns	Volkswagen Dobsonville Stadium
26 Sep 2012	PSL	Mamelodi Sundowns	0–0	SuperSport United	Lucas Moripe Stadium
15 Sep 2012	PSL	Golden Arrows	1–0	Mamelodi Sundowns	Moses Mabhida Stadium
02 Sep 2012	PSL	Mamelodi Sundowns	1–2	Maritzburg Utd	Lucas Moripe Stadium
26 Aug 2012	MTN8	Moroka Swallows	3–2	Mamelodi Sundowns	Volkswagen Dobsonville Stadium
22 Aug 2012	PSL	Kaizer Chiefs	2–1	Mamelodi Sundowns	Soccer City Complex
18 Aug 2012	MTN8	Mamelodi Sundowns	3–3	Moroka Swallows	Lucas Moripe Stadium
11 Aug 2012	PSL	Mamelodi Sundowns	1–0	Chippa United	Lucas Moripe Stadium
05 Aug 2012	MTN8	Mamelodi Sundowns	4–1	Kaizer Chiefs	Loftus Stadium

Clayton Daniels makes instant bid for signing of the season as Johan Neeskens purrs at last

After a faultless first appearance, there appears to be an instant new contender for signing of the season in the South African Premier League.

For four years, Ajax Cape Town thrived on the industry of one Clayton Jagers, this summer, Mamelodi Sundowns will be parading him under his new moniker, Clayton Michael Daniels.

Before the 27-year-old central defender from the Cape Flats arrived at the self-styled Brazilians last week, we had three leading contenders.

Bernard Parker from Holland’s FC Twente Enschede and Lehlohonolo Majoro from Amazulu have helped Kaizer Chiefs take the early lead in the title race. Benni McCarthy arrived from his goal-free nightmare at West Ham, struck after eight minutes for Orlando Pirates and scored again on Wednesday night against Maritzburg United before his controversial dismissal heralded a shock defeat.

The hype that surrounds Soweto’s big two generally thrusts the Amakhosi and the Buccaneers into the limelight, but there can be little doubt about the performance of the week. Daniels’ debut inspired a 4-0 win over Moroka Swallows at the Lucas Masterpieces Moripe stadium, Sundowns’ temporary home in Atteridgeville, west of Tshwane.

Sundowns’ highly-pedigreed new boss, Johan Neeskens, saw his side struggle initially in an opening 0-0 draw with a very average AmaZulu before a 2-0 win over promoted Jomo Cosmos.

But Wednesday night, with Daniels working his magic behind the resurrected former South African player of the year Teko Modise and Bafana Bafana spearhead Katlego “Killer” Mphela, Neeskens was purring after his side had registered the biggest win of the SAPL season so far.

While captain Method Mwanjali sat in the stands watching his hastily drafted-in replacement, Dutch master Neeskens raved: “I’m very, very happy with Clayton’s performance. He has class.

“It’s supposed to be difficult the first time you play for a new team but he showed what kind of a player he is – and I know he can do even better.”

Bemused Birds boss Gordon Ingesund, a man who knows a thing or two about South African football, said: "Playing Sundowns is more like playing Bafana Bafana ... they are all national team material.”

Though Mwanjali will be back for the MTN8 semi-final second leg against Orlando Pirates at Loftus Versfeld on Sunday – there was Method in the madness, Daniels is cup tied for the clash which sees the Buccaneers carrying a narrow 3-2 advantage – the arrival of Daniels will certainly give the SAPL’s leading title winners a significant edge over the months to come.

Daniels himself says: "I have signed a three year deal with Sundowns and I'm hoping my career will get better, that's my aim and I don't see why not because I have joined the right club."

After going on trial to Ere Divisie club Vitesse Arnhem and mother club Ajax Amsterdam pre-season, there is always the Dutch connection. Daniels adds: "I had a big talk with Ajax, they felt it was time for me to move on. Sundowns were interested, they play good football and coming from a Dutch background in terms of coaching I felt that it won't be difficult adjusting to life under Neeskens.”

Daniels, who hails from Bishop Lavis on the Cape Flats, played for amateur Capetonian outfits Celtic United, Clyde Pinelands and Riverside Rangers before being spotted by the Ajax scouting system.

The man who officially changed his surname from Jagers to Daniels “for personal reasons” in February, 2008, adds: "They’ve all given me a warm welcome at Sundowns, the only thing that is left now is to work hard and fight for my place in the team. I am so happy to be at a big club and I am ready to grab my chance.

"I will always be grateful to Ajax. I will always treasure the great memories I shared with them.”

But given the troubled journey of another former Ajax central defender who went north to Chloorkop - Brazilian Eduardo Ferreira, who is now clamouring for a return to Cape Town - Daniels knows he has only just begun.

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