IT'S THE ENDO THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT: Sundowns dreams shot down in Japan

AT FAULT: Mamelodi Sundowns Ugandan
goalkeeper Denis Onyango

FOR a delirious 45 minutes on Saturday, KaboYellow fans had every right to believe they were headed to a glorious final against mighty Real Madrid at the FIFA Club World Cup in Japan. Then came 45 minutes of heartbreak, a second half exposing all that is wrong with South Africa football.

The first half at the Suita City stadium was a dream. Percy Tau was rampant, Khama Billiat had a couple of chances - one from all of four yards on the slide - and Pitso Mosimane looked secure in his Champions of Africa castle with the big back door.

Hitoshi Sogahata was the villain of the piece for Sundowns, who had NINE shots to Kashima’s NIL in those fantastic first 45 minutes. Bizarrely, FIFA had captioned the scoreline “ZSC” for Masandawana (obviously they thought Egyptians Zamalek had made it!) and didn’t correct in to “SUN” until the 2nd half… and by then, the fantasy was fading.

Sogahata, who has played all his life at the Antlers, is a mature 37, he’s played four times for Japan since 1998 but 462 times for his club. Three great saves kept Sundowns goalless, and then there was THAT miss from the usually lethal Zimbabwean Billiat, who put Tau’s excellent cross wide from inside the small box.

MISTAKE! Sundowns were dubbed "ZSC"
throughout the first half by FIFA

At half-time, optimism was sweeping the nation. With the game on SABC thanks to StarSat’s last-minute climb-down on exclusive coverage, the social networks were buzzing. Pitso was a genius. Tau was a lion, Dolly was more popular than Barbie. Onyango hadn't been tested in goal.

But from the first touch of the second half, the Antlers showed the value of a good team talk, and a touch of tactical acumen.

With their wing-backs tucking in, the midfield was reclaimed by the Japanese, Pitso might have seen it before me but he didn’t react. Not until THE ENDO OF THE WORLD, with Yasushi Endo picking up a Mu Kawasaki cross and beating Sundowns’ keeper Denis Onyango.

When I say it beat him, it wasn’t a pretty sight. The Uganda player of the year and PSL goalkeeper of the season made a hash of the close-range shot, it wriggled out from underneath his writhing body and was actually put in by his own hand/head reflex movement.

Shocking, particularly with Sogahata producing a near-perfect 90 minutes at the other end.

CORRECTED! But Sundowns went in to
 a serious decline in the second half

But there was worse to come. Pitso finally threw on Zwane, but it was already too late. Then came Liberian striker Antoine Laffour when Sundowns appeared to finally realise they had to score to survive.

But there was no great urgency. No radical change of shape. The Antlers had Sundowns by the horns. In a dramatic reverse of the first half, Sundowns barely mustered a threat on goal.

And when Kanazaki added a goal of his own with the Downs defense all over the place, the sinking feeling became titanic. All the shortcomings of South African football had been ruthlessly exposed. Poor finishing, late changes, lack of fitness, tired defending and we’ll have to say it again POOR FINISHING.

We got the usual afterwards from Pitso Mosimane, whose PSL and African champions are starting to develop a habit of inconsistency in recent weeks.  

Clearly unhappy, the post-match interview was mercifully short: “We played very well against a very good team. Obviously you could see our finishing was not very good in the first half. They took their chances and we didn’t.

“Disappointed? What do you mean? It’s football. We are professionals. For us it’s a very good learning curve. They passed very well.

“We are learning, we did well, we just couldn’t finish.”

And captain Hlompho Kekana, who simply disappeared in the second half, basically respected his coach: “If we’d taken one of the chances we’d created, the game would've changed. We must take lesson out of this game.”

Lessons? Learning curves? No. The FIFA Club World Cup doesn’t come along regularly for South African football. We needed clinical finishing, decisive substitutions, a solid goalkeeper.

But hey, at least they got to Japan. They play Korea's Jeonbuk on Wednesday morning in a 5th/6th play-off game that could earn the players plenty to add to their African Champions League bonus.

FIFA are offering  $1.5m for fifth and $1m for sixth. So the difference is $500,000. R7.5m. Nearly as much as Cape Town City FC won for their Telkom KO victory against SuperSport United on Saturday.

The Antlers go on to play Nacional from Colombia, with Real Madrid likely to be their final opponents. Sundowns didn’t even get close to Cristiano Ronaldo. It's enough to make a weepy nation howl.

SIMPLY NDORABLE: the astonishing rise of Orlando Pirates and their goal-happy TENdai!

TEN FOR TENDAI: Ndoro is in a rich run of form

SIMPLY NDORABLE. The fairytale of Tinkler Ball. An Orlando Pirates revival that has become too impressive to ignore. And too bizarre to leave unexplored.

In truth, WWWWDWWWW since February 21 should never have happened. Coach Eric Tinkler was widely touted for the axe after the CAF Confederations final defeat at the start of December, but his chairman Irvin Khoza just never got around to chopping off his coach's head.

The man popularly known as #Tinklerout remained in charge confiding in me “what will be, will be, that’s football” as he struggled from game to game before Christmas. At one point the mighty Buccaneers, double treble winners just four years ago, looked a hopeless case in 13th position, just above the top three. Unthinkable for a side NEVER relegated. 

The Sea Robbers, as their nickname suggested, were all at sea complete with leaking ship and powderless cannons.

It got worse. Kermit Erasmus went overboard without warning, and left for France, Thamsanqa Gabuza walked the plank, disappearing from the squad with apparent burn-out. Tinkler, scrambling for a life jacket in an ocean of despair, turned to a 27-year-old from Luwewe in Zimbabwe called Tendai Ndoro. It was sink or swim.

A Chicken Inn product, Ndoro was impressive at Aces, where he scored 14 goals in 41 games, before the big move to Soweto. But despite what looked to me to be a sharp pre-season, Ndoro languished on the bench at Pirates for months. He was lucky to even get a seat as Tinkler stuck with Erasmus, Gabuza and the curiously sluggish Lehlohonolo Majoro.

TOLD YOU SO! My tweet in September last year
questioning the disappearance of Tendai Ndoro

On September 15, 2015, I tweeted about Ndoro being surplus to requirements and sent an SMS to Eric Tinkler, a coach who is always polite enough to reply. He said Tendai was not training well, and had confidence problems. 

But needs must. Let’s return to the low point: 3-0 down at half-time to rock-bottom Maritzburg United on January 16, Ndoro comes on at half-time, fails to score but they grab a point, 3-3.

There’s a few up and downs after that but February 21 is the key point. With Gabuza and Erasmus gone, Ndoro scored in the 3-1 win over an in-form Aces in Mpumalanga.

And then the run began. With Chiefs STILL stuck winless since February 20, here’s the full story of Pirates revival with Ndoro’s goals listed:

21 Feb: 3-1 Aces (a) Ndoro 1

27 Feb: 1-0 Celtic (h)

5 March: 2-0 Chiefs (a) Ndoro 2

12 March: 5-0 Cosmos (h) Ndoro 1

16 March: 0-1 Wits (a)

3 April: 3-1 Cosmos (a) Ndoro 2

9 April: Free State Stars 1-0 (h) Ndoro 1

16 April: Arrows 4-1 (a) Nodder 2

23 April Sundowns 2-0 (a) Ndoro 1

Nine games in all competitions, one defeat.. and TEN GOALS for Tendai Ndoro. Pirates have gone WWWWLWWWW while rivals Chiefs are on a run of DDLLLLLD since mid February. Incredible.

During that time, Tebogo Moloi, the long-running assistant boss at Pirates, has disappeared on long leave. Fitness coach Warren Engelbrecht and effervescent goalkeeping trainer Rowen Fernandez sit alongside Tinkler.

Captain Oupa Manyisa has been out injured and has yet to return. Gabuza has played twice for Bafana but not for Pirates. Crowds at the Orlando Stadium have dipped below 3,000. The Iron Duke called a press conference not to announce exciting new developments but to mark the retirement of near-legendary centre-back Siya Sangweni.

The pressure has never eased. Even at 0-0 against Sundowns on Saturday night, the Ghost were haunting Tinkler. Saying he was tactically inept, should have made changes, was hopeless.

But Tinkler just gritted his teeth and held on, as he has ever since Roger de Sa left for Ajax Cape Town two years ago, even when unlamented Vladimir Vermecovic was making a hash of it. Tinkler doesn’t quit. He hangs on despite the odds. And it worked. Down to ten men, Ndoro scored in extra-time, then made the second goal.

And Tinkler, through to the Nedbank Cup semi-finals, was left smiling: “We were down to 10 and I had to play that way. I knew they would be vulnerable to the break away… and they were.”

Ndoro, with his streaky hair and slick demeanour said simply: “We work hard. We work as a team. We want the Nedbank Cup.”

Now breathing over the shoulders of arch-rivals Kaizer Chiefs in the PSL and threatening the top four, Tinkler and Ndoro lifting silverware would be the icing on the cake.

And given the position at Christmas, a true footballing fairy tale.

When the beautiful game makes sense: a super Saturday for the PSL... and Orlando Pirates

WONDER GOAL: Siphiwe Tshabalala

THE beautiful game doesn't always make sense. It can be ugly, boring, drab. We long for fantasy football. Saturday in South Africa, it all came good.

Me? I loved every minute. In the morning my son, fulfilling the traditional Collins clan left-back position, helped AmaTuks Under 11s to a Football Association of Pretoria Cup win. Gritty, tough, 1-0 over a rugged bunch from Sunnyside. The chairman of FAP asked me to bring Matthew to provincial training. One of those moments for a dad.

But Matthew plays grim, European football. He wins headers, clears 60 yards and tackles like a tractor. We need him to move on from that, play short, develop his touch, keep possession if he's going to make it in the modern game.

Sometimes South African football fails to make exactly those developments in our youngsters. They turn 25 and they've barely improved since they were 15 playing in a creaking, poorly-run PSL.

A few hours later, at LC De Villiers, after a major braai with the triumphant kids and parents, we saw the boys escort the PSL teams out on to a perfect playing surface, in front of the SABC cameras.

I can’t lie. The first half-hour of AmaTuks v Polokwane City was like watching paint dry. Badly. Poor touch, tactically dour, a bit like watching the U11s… but then up popped a lad called Khethukuthula Zwane. A 29-year-old with no major convictions for ravishing goals, he simply set the game alight.

Two thundering strikes from 30 yards secured a first victory for the Tshwane Clever Boys, who ran out 3-0 winners. Across the city - for some reason the PSL thinks playing two games in the same city on the same day at the same time is a good idea - Mamelodi Sundowns were crushing Bidvest Wits 4-2.

Then came Mpumalanga Black Aces, who held Gordon Igesund’s expensive SuperSport United 1-1. With three Oceanians and two UK returnees on show, Igesund appeared to hold all the aces, but football has a way of levelling the playing field.

Then to the CAF Confederations Cup and a rousing 2-0 win for Orlando Pirates over Leopards, a win which secures a semi-final berth for Eric Tinkler’s Buccaneers with captain Oupa Manyisa finishing things off in style.

And finally a rip-roaring 4-0 win for Kaizer Chiefs over Free State Stars at Soccer City with Siphiwe Tshabalalala providing us with a memory of the 2010 World Cup, unleashing a dipping volley from distance to bring the nation to its feet. We shall not mention the second own goal. It was just too damn good.

Simultaneously, Ajax Cape Town beat Maritzburg United 3-1 to raise the tally of PSL goals to 19 in five games. 21 in 6 if you count Pirates’ continental cruise.

And that’s what it’s all about. Goals. Teko Modise, Shabba and Zwane all produced strikes worthy of a Premier League Goal of the Season video. Pitso Mosimane’s post-match interview was as good as anything Jose Mourinho can come up with. Steve Komphela out-verbalised the pair of them.

And for a glorious seven hours, from the 3pm kick-offs to the final words from Komphela at Soccer City, South Africans were able to sit back and admire their national sport. Blimey, with the NDF kicking off too, and Leopards producing their traditional full house up north, it was dream time. Even AmaZulu won!

Hopefully Bafana Bafana came take us on from here against Mauritania in the upcoming AFCON qualifier. After the dreadful 0-0 home draw against minnows Gambia, Shakes Mashaba needs to give the slave-owning, child-labouring, women-trafficking Mauritanians a good stuffing to maintain this bubble of optimism.

God knows, we have the talent. The fact that none of the big achievers on Saturday - Shabba, Zwane, Cuthbert Malajile or Teko Modise - will be on show is beside the point.

Dean Furman, fresh from his PSL debut with SuperSport, will be there. So too will Itumeleng Khune, who produced an astonishing one-handed save for Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday.

We kneel and pray for Shakes and Bafana. Mauritania must be mauled. Nouakchott must be nobbled.

Sure, Sunday saw a return to the usual PSL fare. Jomo Cosmos and Golden Arrows couldn't manage a goal between them and we were treated to both coaches saying they were happy with a point. Bloemfontein Celtic's' 1-1 draw against Platinum Stars was little better.

But here’s a final thought. Normally the pressure in South Africa is on the big three. But Pitso, Komphela and Tinkler spent most of the weekend beaming. Those “little big clubs” Bidvest Wits and SuperSport United are the ones feeling the heat. Igesund and Hunt have spent millions.

It’s very, very early in the season, but for once, the pressure is off at Orlando Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns.

For a few days… a

Destined for the top: A brief history of South Africa's new Technical Director Neil Tovey

CONTINENTAL CHAMPION: Neil Tovey in 1996

NEIL TOVEY in 1981? Skinny teenager. Great shot. Good engine, could get up and down, box to box. Rarely lost possession. Won his first South African League title when he was still a teenager.

Neil Tovey today? South Africa's most qualified coach. Has done the rounds. Has had his share of personal challenges. Still has much to offer.

When he was announced as the South African Football Association's new Technical Director on Saturdayaround 5pm, the old nostalgia kicked in. I first came across Neil on the training ground outside the now-demolished New Kingsmead in Durban 35 years ago.

He was a year younger than me but made me look like a novice at training on a ground which now lies buried beneath the new Moses Mabhida Stadium. I'd generally fall over when he went one-on-one with me. At the time, Neil Tovey was an 19-year-old just pushed in to professional football by a chap called Clive Barker. He made the transition to the paid ranks with barely a blink.

Neil’s big brother Mark was the frightening one back in 1980. He had a big job with Puma, handed out the kit and barked when I lost possession. Though my primary role was as a football writer at the local newspaper, the Natal Mercury, I played for Durban City’s reserves while the blue-and-white hooped first team dominated the early years of non-racial football in South Africa.

My first year in Durban after university was quite a season for City, a team established in the old white NFL by Norman "Silver Fox" Elliott in 1959. Incredibly, smooth manager Butch Webster and his diminutive coach Barker created a side to match the NPSL giants from Soweto and they won Abdul Bhamjee’s newly founded NFL in 1982 (when we used to play football throughout the winter) against all expectations.

Paid peanuts and held together by a huge Scottish defender called Andy Stanton who worked as an advertising executive on week days, the Tovey brothers were integral in Barker’s plans. Sometimes they played one behind the other in central midfield, though both contributed goals. Neil could shoot from distance, Mark was the terrier mopping up. Both could play a mean through ball. A chap called Kevin Mudie got most of the goals.

City, with tiny crowds and no funds, went on to win a second successive title in 1983 before Barker led a mass-break-out to Umlazi’s gold-and-black Bush Bucks in 1984. Under the astute eye of Lawrence “Big Bear” Ngubane, the cunning mixture of City champions with talents like Daniel Ramarutsi and Mlungisi “Prof” Ngubane went on to win the championship in 1986.

By then, older brother Mark was the centre-back, Neil was more of a midfielder. He was tall and slight, and had followed Barker from local amateur club Juventus, based on Durban’s Berea.

But Neil emerged from the shadow of his big brother with aplomb in 1996, when he captained Barker’s Bafana to the African Nations Cup on home soil, a triumph rich in post-democratic fervour and Rainbow Nation unity. Now 34, Tovey was now a veteran, anchoring Kaizer Chiefs and the national squad from centre-back with the captain's armband now an immovable feature.

When he retired in 1999, aged 37, Tovey had played 341 games for Chiefs and 52 for Bafana Bafana. He smoothly transitioned to player-coach in the latter days of his playing career at Chiefs and went on to boss Mamelodi Sundowns, AmaZulu, Hellenic, Mpumalanga Black Aces and, most recently, Thanda Royal Zulu.

In 2011, when I was working in Abu Dhabi, I tried to get Tovey a job in the lucrative (but not particularly strong) United Arab Emirates Pro League, and after a recent health scare (he’s fully recovered) there were fears his greatest days were behind him.

But Saturday’s announcement of Tovey as South Africa’s new Technical Director came as a welcome relief. Since Ephraim Mashaba was handed the Bafana job nearly a year ago, Danny Jordaan had been promising a Technical Director to help Shakes, not known for his tactical acumen and clearly struggling to keep things together.

Tovey and Steve Komphela were the only qualified South Africans to do the job. Danny Jordaan and I agreed on that a year ago. But with Tovey doing television work and Komphela engrossed in pushing Maritzburg United to their highest PSL finish, movement was slow. SAFA’s technical committee chief Nataschia Tshiclas told me week after week: “We are still looking.” I waited week after week, month after month, for Tovey to ride to the rescue as Bafana struggled through AFCON and the COSAFA disaster... culminating in the awful 0-0 home draw against Gambia a fortnight ago.

With various foreign names bandied about, the appointment of Tovey – who scored top marks when taking both his UEFA A and Pro badges - is another welcome local appointment for South African football. I phoned him on Saturday during the Orlando Pirates game and he was quick to re-assure Mashaba: “I won’t be telling Shakes what to do. It’s going to be a tough job. I can't just go in there and tell people what to do.

“There are so many areas for me to look at, I don’t even know if I’ll be going to Mauritius for the second leg of the CHAN qualifier. I don't think that's a priority in my new role.

“I won’t be getting involved that much in the national side. That’s not the job. It’s my task to make things easier for Shakes. To work in the background, on development. My main task, as I see it, is to ensure younger players coming through to the national team.”

SAFA's R65m plan for a new Technical Centre south of Johannesburg will give Tovey a base for his empire; his grasp of modern UEFA techniques will soon begin to percolate through our game. As long as he can work with Mashaba, surely there's a long-awaited improvement on the cards for Bafana Bafana.

STUART BAXTER EXCLUSIVE: The best season of my career, the struggles... And the future

You wouldn't think Stuart Baxter had just completed the most satisfying season of his long and varied coaching career. You'd hardly notice he has just broken a host of PSL records to guide Kaizer Chiefs to 69 points and a 12-point cushion over crushed champions Mamelodi Sundowns.

In fact, speaking to Stuart on Monday afternoon, as the hype over coronation settled after a sell-out game at the Nelson Mandela Stadium left one fan shot dead by a police revolver, you'd think Baxter had been in charge at Choppa United or Queens Park Strangers.

Oh, he's proud. And he's content with what his squad achieved given that their best striker only scored 7 goals and their only big signing failed to score a league goal in half a season.

Barker, born in Wolverhampton 61 years ago, has coached all over the world, from Scandinavia to Japan and he concedes: "In terms of records and domination, you're right, it has to be the best. It was a real struggle at times, people may not have appreciated that, but we got the job done.

"There was a point, after all the hype over our fabulous start, when it looked like a dip was coming. When we lost and drew a couple, people were saying crisis.

"But this time the lads dug in, they held their nerve and we got the train back on track with some decisive 1-0 wins and although our rivals were asking "Is this another Chiefs crisis" we were able to make sure it didn't develop, and suddenly we were winning again.

"The key? Our defence, obviously. Tefu Mashamaite and Tshepo Masilela were magnificent, so was Tower Mathoho and Siboniso Gaxa, like Tefu, barely missed a game.

"Most of our goals came from set pieces or midfield, where Willard Katsande turned in to more of an all-rounder, making 25 yard passes and intercepting rather than clobbering the opposition.

"Willard even got a goal in the final game, we celebrated that one - we'd worked on a new set piece for two weeks to set it up!"

But for a man who has just won a double of PSL and MTN8 and taken his prize money over three seasons to over R50m, there was little of the Mourinho swagger.

Baxter leaves for Sweden and the UK at the end of month, like he has for the last two seasons. but this time, there are important meetings to be held with Bobby Motaung about signings, new contracts and the mythical academy at Naturena.

Though Baxter has played little part in previous signings - notably David Zulu's R4m move with a knee injury - this time he intends to play a major role in a winter of substantial change at the club, with TWELVE players headed for the exit door.

And he insists that, if he stays at the club, the African Champions League will be taken seriously, as it was this year, though Chiefs suffered a first round knock-out at the hands of Morocco's Raja Casablanca.

Baxter insists: "People who understand the game know we went to Casablanca with a full squad, we won a lot of friends for the way we played. we travelled knowing we had lost the home leg and had vital domestic games to worry about but we DID take it seriously and lost to one of the best teams in Africa.

"We can't beat teams like that without investing in our squad. You know we needed a striker. We had James Keene over for a look, he did well. He's 29, did well in Germany, and he was a free agent. The deal was on the table but it was ignored.

"There are two or three  local strikers we're looking at but there's not much about. You know about Rob Earnshaw (former Wales international) being interested and that's the kind of thing we have to consider.

"We don't want to go down the root of Japanese football, opening doors to players who have passed their sell-by date but look at what New Zealand's Jeremy Brockie has achieved in half a season.

"That's the kind of player I'm talking about, looking for quality where ever we can find it."

Baxter touched on his dream of a new Kaizer Chiefs Academy - the last was shut down five years ago after age cheating problems - and insists: "The Academy has moved on a little bit further, the pitches and dressing rooms are finished at the village, accommodation and education facilities are underway.

"But now need the coaches, a technical director. It hasn't always gone as I would have hoped."

On the thorny subject of dwindling PSL attendances, Baxter and his champions enjoyed huge crowds at Atteridgeville and Port Elizabeth AFTER the title was won but he admits: "It seems to be a problem in South Africa, it could be economics,  I don't know, sometimes we had fantastic support, sometimes felt we needed a bit of a hand from the AmaKhosi in numbers when it mattered most."

But the real problem, perhaps the underlying factor behind his low-key response to a clinical championship charge, lies in Baxter's involvement in refreshing the squad this winter.

He is reluctant to make waves about his future, but ANY top African club - and those beyond our continent - would surely show an interest in acquiring the man who has led Chiefs to two League titles - without massive spending - in three seasons.

"If I stay," he says cautiously, "We are going to have to have a big rotation. I'd have to be a mug to take over a squad I don't choose myself."

When I suggest five players who may not be offered new contracts he says: "I can come up with 12 without even stopping to think. That's a major overhaul. That's what these meetings are about before I leave for Europe. I need to have my input.

"If I get fobbed off, I will cast the net, look at other opportunities. I will allow rumors to gather strength. You can say 12 players will be moved out, if they're replaced by somebody else, how can I stay?"

Sent from my iPad

PITSO MOSIMANE NAILS IT: the full text of Mamelodi Sundowns coach's post-match interview. "Referee Thabo Nkosi stole the show"

Man of the match? Ref Thabo Nkosi

PITSO MOSIMANE was understandably upset after tonight's 1-1 draw against Mpumalanga Black Aces in Mbombela. The Mamelodi Sundowns coach, known for his post-match outbursts, was inconsolable after seeing his side denied a last-minute winner... and boy, did he let us know.

In a dramatic interview with SuperSport's ultra-professional Carol Tshabalala, Mosimane has probably landed himself in hot water with the PSL, but the man is nothing if not passionate. At one point in the interview, he simply couldn't talk as he choked up in fury over Bongani Zungu's "winner".

Though Pitso has a right to be furious - referee Thabo Nkosi had given the goal but changed his mind after seeing the linesman's flag - it did look like Zungu fouled goalkeeper Jackson Mabokgwane before scoring.

How they stand: the PSL table after draws for Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns tonight

Having chased down Kaizer Chiefs last season to clinch a long-awaited league title for Masandawana, the former Bafana boss came close to conceding to the AmaKhosi, who play resurgent AmaZulu tomorrow night with a seven point lead.

And at one point, Pitso called for referee Thabo Nkosi to win the Man of the Match award and compared him to the controversial Victor "Penalty King" Gomes, who once awarded FIVE penalties in a Sundowns match.


On a night when Orlando Pirates came from behind THREE TIMES to draw 3-3 as Platinum Stars striker Mogakolodi Ngele scored a brilliant hat-trick, Sundowns certainly battled their hearts out... but will their two dropped points decide the title?

HERE IS THE FULL TEXT OF PITSO MOSIMANE’S POST-MATCH INTERVIEW

PITSO: “It’s a game of two halves, first half, we let ourselves down by not picking up on the goal. I’m happy to be wrong, I think Dennis Onyango was fouled on the first goal… (stops, unable to carry on, overwhlemed by emotion)

CAROL: “I know it’s difficult to break it down without talking about the disappointment… looking at how they came out today, how do you think they can come back…?”

PITSO: “How do you motivate the players who work so hard, give their best, what do you say to them about all this?

“I think (referee) Thabo must be the man of the match, did very well, he stole the show, he reminds me of Gomes. He also steals the show. I don’t want to talk about Thabo's performance, he knows his performance.

“It’s unbelievable Carol. It’s unbelievable. You spend the whole year fighting to win the league and protect the league (title) but tonight, we’re asking for favours. It’s history for me how this title was won.

“But I have to accept. Because if I don’t accept they’re going to keep coming. The PSL’s going to come to me. And you know the story with Pitso. Check all the fines, all the fines received in the PSL, I’ve got the heaviest one but I’ve never been sent off."

CAROL: “But I’m concerned now. You’re saying it’s gone?”

PITSO: “I’m not saying it’s gone. Listen to me. If it’s gone, we’ll know how it is gone. Some of the things are not in your hands hey. What a change of decision there. Unbelievable. I saw the hand pointing the other way. It’s life, it’s football. Thabo stole the show.”

CAROL: “You feel as if the performance deserved three points?”

PITSO: “Before Mamelodi Sundowns won the league last year, it had been six, seven years, out of anything. We strengthened and we won the league last year. It’s going to be very difficult to win the league this year. But we will try our best.

“I don’t know what I’m going to say to the players, try hard or what? We pray for a miracle? It’s okay Carol. You know what’s hard? I work so hard eh, then somebody just takes it away.”

The PSL is back: and new Bafana boss Shakes Mashaba weeps

Tears for fears: Shakes Mashaba

SHAKES MASHABA arrived back in South Africa early yesterday morning, burst in to tears and lamented the quality of the players he has available as South Africa's new national head coach.

It wasn't vastly encouraging.

This weekend, we get the chance to see what he's talking about. With Home Affairs getting sticky over work permits, the PSL is likely to kick-off without ANY foreign stars due to paperwork issues.


Mamelodi Sundowns presents the most interesting argument. Their Zimbabwean duo Cuthbert Malajila and Khama Billiat both played in Saturday's shock 2-1 MTN8 defeat against Platinum Stars but are (as of this morning) not registered to start the League campaign this weekend, along with Ghanaian Rashid Sumalia and Zambian Mukuka Mulenga.

Nigerian Ejike Ezoenye is back home waiting for his stamp and even Belgian back-up goalkeeper Glenn Verbauwhede, who claimed a work permit through the "financial independence" route remains unregistered.

But for captain Alje Schut from the Netherlands and Zambian goalkeeper Kennedy Mweene, as well as Mozambique's Elias Palembe, their registration as "naturalised citizens" means they miss the big foreign cull which will - barring last minute Home Affairs paper shuffling - cast a shadow over the opening weekend of the PSL season.


But for Mashaba, the 64-year-old about to embark on his FOURTH stint with Bafana Bafana, this should provide a perfect opportunity to see a couple of sidelined South Africans, surely?

Mashaba arrived back from his West African tour with out Under 20 AmaJitas lamenting: "We still have to groom players. We haven't had good players since 1996. We don't have players who can change a game. We have to look at young players to close the gap."

And he should know. The tour produced distinctly mediocre results. While our Under 17 AmaJimbos under Molefi Ntseki were hammering Tanzania 4-0 en route to next month's clash with Egypt in a final African Youth Championship qualifier, Mashaba's older generation lost to Mali and Ivory Coast while drawing with Senegal and Burkina Faso.

Mashaba, nearly overwhelmed at times by emotion in his first press conference since his surprise naming as national coach ahead of Carlos Queiroz and Frank Rijkaard nearly a fortnight ago, said: "It's even more difficult to take this job because I love the junior national teams. it's not nice to start a project and break off from it.

"I was excited but now I realise their is so much work to do."

You'd think Mashaba would have though about all this before he took the job. His emergence as a candidate only really gained momentum in the final days before Danny Jordaan's long-awaited announcement. Yet he continued on his grand tour of the north despite having the AFCON 2015 qualifiers against Sudan, Nigeria and Rwanda to prepare for early next month.


Still, he's back. Having missed fairly impressive opening round of MTN8 games, he'll get to see Moroka Swallows - missing their three Eastern European signings - at Orlando Pirates in the oldest Soweto Derby on Saturday at 8.15pm. That match is sure to grap all his attention though SuperSport United will be playing Gavin Hunt's title contenders Bidvest Wits at the same time.


Kaizer Chiefs go to Free State Stars at 3pm,  while Polokwane City are at Amatuks. Chippa United, who bounced straight back up from the NFD, entertain Platinum Stars at 6pm, presumably without their biggest off-season signing Fatau Dauda, the Ghana World Cup goalkeeper.


Sunday sees AmaZulu, aiming for a top four spot according to coach Craig Rosslee, take on Roger de Sa's youthful Ajax Cape Town and Bloemfontein Celtic, under new management, have got Clive Barker's Mpumalanga Black Aces, both games at 3pm.


But in truth, all eyes will be on Pitso Mosimane's Mamelodi Sundowns when last year's champions Masandawana entertain Steve Komphela's modest Maritzburg United in Atteridgeville in the opening game tomorrow night at 8pm.


That 2-1 defeat against Dikwena, who wept crocodile tears over the Southampton-like departure of a host of major stars during the winter, puts Pitso under immediate pressure. With 17 players due to go on loan from Masandawana's huge squad and the foreigners likely to be ruled out, the pressure is already on.

But given the money they've spent and the vast squad of players they've assembled, would Sundowns fans want it any other way?

SOCCERBALLZ! my innovative football show on www.ballz.co.za with Mark Fish airs every Thursday from 9am-11am. See Ballz' channel for our growing library of fascinating football interviews with the big names. Ballz will also provide daily World Cup updates from next week.

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. 

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.