A TALE OF TWO CHAMPIONS: Leicester and Mamelodi both won 3-1. But the similarities end there.

WE SHALL NOT SLEEP: Andrea Bocelli at Leicester's King Power Stadium

Ah, the Saturday of Champions. On consecutive channels, courtesy of SuperSport television. We saw the champions of England and South Africa, Leicester City and Mamelodi Sundowns, both surge to convincing 3-1 wins just days after being crowned champions of their respective nations. But apart from the scoreline the two events had little in common.

Those football fans fortunate enough to afford DSTV’s mushrooming monthly subscription surely won’t have missed the yawning chasm between two title-winners on the Channel of Champions.

On channel 203 we had the glory of Leicester City. Confirmed as champions earlier in the week, the Year of the Fox went in to full swing at about 4pm. After days of massive celebrations in pubs and gathering places around the midlands town, their clash with Everton was pure joy from start to finish.

With tickets for their crowning glory being touted for R20,000, the King Power stadium was packed to the rafters with 32,524 fans carrying co-ordinated blue-and-white flags.

Global tears were shed when Italian classical tenor Andrea Bocelli, a man who lost his sight in a footballing accident, fulfilled his promise to coach and compatriot Claudio Ranieri and serenaded the football-speaking world with Nessun Dorma (Never Sleep).

Nobody slept. Top scorer Jamie Vardy scored early on, then smashed home one penalty and sent a second over the bar, whistling towards Uranus. The town of Leicester, thrust in to the spotlight, didn’t give a damn. They’re in the Champions League next year.

It’s been that kind of week. Owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha didn’t just buy a R700 000 Mercedes for every player, he also provided free beers and fresh pizza for every fan.

Exactly 8 328 miles and one channel away at the Lucas Masterpieces Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville near Pretoria, it was free tears and frozen Pitso for a paltry crowd without flags or razzmatazz on DSTV 204 at 5pm.

Up against the Ghanaians Medium SC, a dour 80 minutes was spent trailing by an away goal before top scorer Leonardo Castro, player of the season Kharma Billiat and sub Cuthbert Malajila banged home three in 7 minutes to unearth a 3-1 first leg triumph in the CAF Confederations Cup.

But even after that late landslide, it was impossible to miss the stark contrast between the two events which kicked-off within half-an-hour of each other. Both Leicester and Pretoria are cities more famous for their rugby teams than their football clubs.

With the Tigers and the Bulls over-shadowed, Leicester and Sundowns made history this week. The Foxes won their first title in 132 years. Mamelodi celebrated their record seventh PSL title.

But while Leicester are at the centre of their community, the old HM Pitje Stadium in Mamelodi remains unused, caught in the middle of a political quagmire between the council and billionaire owner Patrice Motsepe.

No fans, no razzmatazz: Mamelodi Sundowns

With a paltry crowd less than 10 percent of the gathering at Leicester, there was simply no razzmatazz - not even Sports Minister Fikile Mbalula - to provide South African football with a touch of joy.

No flags, no champagne, no fireworks. Nothing.

Pitso Mosimane tried to lift the mood of course. His post-match summary of Sundowns late rally was hilarious. Looking to find out just how he managed to lift Masandawana after a dreadful first half, South Africa’s most successful homegrown African coach told us:

“It was very naughty. But my players are still celebrating, they are only human. At half-time, I didn’t say a word. I promise you. I sat in my corner and drank coffee.”

And really, that sums up our Saturday of champions. Leicester went out and told the world they were champions with free beer. Mamelodi sat in their corner and had a cuppa. It’s got to tell you something about the state of our football.

SUPER SATURDAY: own goals, injury time, four goal sprees and angry Tunisians

REFFING HELL! Sahel players at work
on Zambian referee Janny Sikazwe

FOOTBALL. It’s a silly old game. Saturday was an absolute extravaganza of eccentricity. From those mysterious seven minutes of injury time at the Harry Gwala to the demolition of the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.

It doesn’t end there of course. First we saw Manchester United go top of the Premier League thanks to a last-minute own goal scored by Watford’s scorer, then we saw Arsenal fail to go top after a Mikel Arteta own goal and a slapstick Santi Cazorla penalty miss straight out of the Three Stooges.

Let’s stick to the British Premier League for a moment for the sake of the ridiculous: Leicester City, more of a rugby town for decades, are top because Liverpool were, for the first time under Jurgen Klopp, too good. Manchester City inexplicably folded 4-1 against the mid-table Merseysiders.

And how about the irony of the Reds’ former Champions League winner Rafa Benitez being in charge of Real on a night of absolute El Clasico misery? Barca’s 4-0 win, with goals from Luis Suarez (two), Neymar and Andres Iniesta was achieved with the great Lionel Messi, back from injury, largely on the bench. And even with his cushion, he was better than his arch-rival Cristiano Ronaldo.

Back home, it was almost impossible to keep up. Gavin Hunt’s PSL leaders Bidvest Wits were all at sea against Serame Letsoake’s Golden Arrows. Yes, they utterly outplayed the visitors but couldn’t get past Namibian goalkeeper Maximilian Mbaeva.

At half-time I exchanged rare messages with PSL communication director Luxolo September. We agreed it was a superb first half with Arrows 1-0 up.

But in what turned out to be perhaps the game of the season so far, Bidvest Wits equalised through 18-year-old Phakamani Mhlambi only to go behind again.

And then came real drama. Mbaeva was sent off, rightly, for a handball outside the box. With Ricardo Goss still warming his gloves, Daine Klate smacked his free-kick, not for the first time, straight in to the corner for 2-2.

And within minutes Klate, 30, let go by Orlando Pirates and SuperSport United in recent seasons, conjured the winner to go top of the PSL scoring charts and make clear his intention to add a SIXTH championship medal to the record FIVE he had already garnered at Supersport and Pirates.

Hunt was hilarious afterwards. Six points clear at the top of the PSL, he moaned: “This is what always happens after an international break. The players are away, eating too much and lazing around, they come back here and they’re sluggish.”

Bloody hell, Gavin, SLUGGISH? It was magnificent.

It was Kaizer Chiefs who appeared to have a real problem with sluggishness, falling behind to rock-bottom Maritzburg United and never really looking like recovering. While Steve Komphela looked increasingly crest-fallen, Clive Barker, at 72, appeared to have out-thought and out-fought the mighty AmaKhosi in front of a sell-out crowd at the Harry Gwala.

But then up goes the injury-time board: SEVEN MINUTES. Gasps all round. And what happens with the final touch of the game? Chiefs equalise. Injustice. Utterly unfair. The Dog’s tail should have been wagging.

But before we could even react to that salvage operation, with El Clasico and Liverpool rampaging on nearby channels, Orlando Pirates were up and ready to play the first leg of their CAF Confederations Cup final first leg in front of a nearly full Orlando Stadium.

ES Sahel, from the Tunisia holiday resort of Sousse where 38 tourists were shot in June, have won just about everything there is to win in Africa. But they looked out of sorts in the final footballing saga on Saturday night.

Tamsanqa Gabuza produced a remarkable left-footed first half finish to give Eric Tinkler’s men the advantage and really, the visitors - who arrived by charter flight on Wednesday and barely spoke to a soul - were anything but classy. Their treatment of the officials - at one point they shoved a man-handled the Zambian referee Janny Sikazwe - was matched only by their failure to pick up the mood of the evening.

On both Jacaranda FM and SAFM I predicted a two-goal margin for Pirates. After all, Etoile du Sahel had failed to beat anybody away from home in the entire tournament apart from Esperance, about 130km down the road. A late equaliser ruined the night. Jemal was the fox in the box. It was a night of poor replays, so I can't say if it was off-side. The Pirates players certainly called for it.

Ultimately, it ended 1-1. Job undone by a late away goal. The second leg will be a struggle next week, but they have a fighting chance, these Buccaneers.

Tinkler said: "It was exactly what we expected. A good team defensively, but we could have come in at half-time 2-0 up. It was a gutsy performance. We let ourselves down in the dying minutes.

"I thought their behaviour was shocking. Should have had some red cards. And that includes the guys on their bench."

Can we predict the outcome in Sousse? Hardly. Who would have predicted Barcelona and Liverpool scoring four away from home? Who would have foreseen the own goals at Manchester United and Arsenal?

Best just let it unfold. It's a funny old game.

Squeaky bottom time in South Africa, Britain and Spain: the vital fixtures that could shape the season this weekend

Repeat performance? Stuart Baxter last season

IT'S going down to the wire. A tired footballing cliche, I know, but not one they're throwing about in Germany and Scotland right now.

While the Bundesliga and Scottish Premier were settled weeks ago, Spanish, British and South African football followers are just hitting crunch time - with three sides in the running in La Liga, the Premier League and the PSL.

South Africa's battle between Mamelodi Sundowns and champions Kaizer Chiefs could yet prove to be the closest of all, with the title decided on goal difference, as it was in 2011 when Orlando Pirates pipped Ajax Cape Town to secure their first treble.


Last night, just before Gareth Bale's sensational winner for Real Madrid in the El Clasico Copa Del Ray final against wilting Barcelona, Mzanzi's top three all cleared significant hurdles to stay in the running for the 2014 South African crown.


At Loftus, Sundowns could only carve out a 1-0 win over Clive Barker's in-form Mpumalanga Black Aces thanks to an early goal from Mozambiquan star Elias Pelembe. Afterwards Pitso Mosimane, now realistically set to become the first black South African coach to win the PSL, was far from tears.

He grinned: "I know some people will accuse me off being too defensive, but this was not a night for a second goal. Three points is all that mattered. And we've got our three points."

At the Peter Mokabe Stadium, Polokwane City - not easily beaten up north - were eventually beaten 2-0 by George. Well two Georges. First Lebese added to the two late Nedbank Cup goals he scored over the weekend, then Maluleke produced the killer goal. Talking of killers: Katlego Mphela came on for Bernard Parker, but neither lived up to their reputations.

Worse, when Knowledge Musona came on as a sub late in the game, it looked like his dodgy ankle went with his first real thrust at goal. Stuart Baxter appeared afterwards to say: "We've got to be happy with three points, it's such a schedule like nowhere else.

"I'm trying to put out a competitive squad for CAF, that's why we rotated some of the players tonight. The PSL could go down to goal difference, but what can you do? If our competitors win 7-0 for the rest of the season, I'll be the first to congratulate them!"


And quietly, Bidvest Wits produced two late goals against Moroka Swallows to secure a last-gasp 2-1 win which leaves the Clever Boys in the Hunt. Gavin Hunt that is. With one game in hand on Chiefs and two on Sundowns, his men are realistically TWO POINTS adrift in the title race and they've got to play the AmaKhosi.


With Chiefs and Sundowns level on goal difference at +22, it's the remaining fixtures which now become the subject of some debate. And the major problem? Chiefs have those two CAF Confed Cup games against Asec Mimosa (at Dobsonville on Saturday and at the Stade Robert Champroux in Abidjan on April 27) to worry about.

And the AmaKhosi are also in to the last four of the Nedbank Cup, with Wits of all people to come on May 3.  Sundowns have neither CAF nor the Nedbank Cup to worry about after their quarter-final defeat against Orlando Pirates.


That means Masanadawana have THREE to play: Swallows away on Saturday; SuperSport United at home on April 26 and Maritzburg away on May 10.

Chiefs have FOUR to come: the big one against Wits on April 23, Amatuks away on April 26 (has to be re-scheduled because of CAF); relegation threatened Free State Stars on April 30 and Amazulu at home on the final day of the season, May 10.


Last season Chiefs won the League with 57 points. Orlando Pirates did it with 58 in 2012. Already Sundowns have 55 points. They might need 64 to confirm it. And that would be a new PSL record.


FULL LIST OF PSL WINNERS AND POINTS TALLIES

2002-2003: Orlando Pirates 61, Supersport United 55

2003-2004: Kaizer Chiefs 63 (highest), Ajax Cape Town 57

2004-2005: Kaizer Chiefs 62, Orlando Pirates 60

2005-2006: Mamelodi Sundowns 57, Orlando Pirates 54

2006-2007: Mamelodi Sundowns 61, Silver Stars 51

2007-2008: SuperSport United 54 (lowest), Ajax Cape Town 52

2008-2009: SuperSport United 55, Orlando Pirates 55

2009-2010: SuperSport United 57, Mamelodi Sundowns 56

2010-2011: Orlando Pirates 60, Ajax Cape Town 60

2011-2012: Orlando Pirates 58, Moroka Swallows 56

2012-2013: Kaizer Chiefs 57, Platinum Stars 56


Vital games in La Liga this weekend:

FRIDAY: ATLETICO MADRID v Elche 8.30pm CAT

SATURDAY: REAL MADRID v Osasuna, 8pm CAT

SUNDAY: Villarreal v BARCELONA, 9pm CAT

After last night's Copa Del Ray win, Real Madrid and Barcelona have to maintain the pace at Diego Simeone's shock troops Atleti remain a win clear in the title race. All three are expected to win this weekend, but that's what they said before Granada 1-0 Barcelona last week!


Vital games in Premier League this weekend:

SATURDAY: CHELSEA v Sunderland 6.30pm CAT

SUNDAY: Norwich v LIVERPOOL 1pm CAT

MONDAY: MANCHESTER CITY v West Brom 9pm CAT

Man City were held 2-2 by Sunderland last night, and they were lucky to bet a point at home with Samir Nasri's late equaliser vital. It's a result that further strengthens Liverpool's grip on their first EVER Premier League crown. Assuming the top three all win this weekend, it's Chelsea at Liverpool next week which will be crucial.



Vital games in PSL this weekend:

SATURDAY: SuperSport United v WITS 3pm CAT

SUNDAY: Moroka Swallows v MAMELODI SUNDOWNS 6pm CAT

With champions Kaizer Chiefs on CAF Confed Cup duty, Sundowns have the chance to move SIX points ahead at the top of the PSL - and improve their goal difference against the low-flying SwaiSwai. Victory for Wits would put them within TWO POINTS of Chiefs. Definitely still in the HUNT.