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

The job is done: Pitso Mosimane and Mamelodi Sundowns romp to the PSL title with a game to spare

Celebration time: Sundowns fans invade Loftus last night

IT'S done. And with plenty of Pitso panache.

For 45 minutes last night, Mamelodi Sundowns' championship charge looked like being a drab funeral march.

In the end, with coach Pitso Mosimane telling his men "nobody can stop us scoring goals" it had turned in to a rousing 3-0 triumph and another wwwwwwwwwwin in a triumphant streak nobody else could match.

After a post-match pitch invasion, coach Mosimane emerged to say: "It's amazing. I came here to help Masandawana avoid relegation... and now we are champions."

After a flat first half, we didn't have to wait long for the first Surprise - yes, that man Moriri getting the opener against hapless SuperSport United to begin the landslide in front of a huge crowd, enjoying free entrance to Loftus Versfeld for wearing KaboYellow.

Then came the fairy-tale moment. Teko Modise, the man who just missed out on the trebles at SuperSport United and Orlando Pirates, produced a visionary 35-yard effort to catch Ronwen Williams off his line. A cracking way to break the title jinx and install himself as firm favourite for the Player of the Season accolades after a third successive Man of the Match performance.

Afterwards Modise said: "We said at half-time we had to play another way. I'm glad to repay Pitso's faith in me. I've always been involved with him. He's very emotional. He's never won the PSL either. I lost for words... I'm just so happy."

Pitso Mosimane, now the first black South African coach to win the PSL, did a Jose Mourinho style run up the touchline in response to Teko's magic strike. The Tshwane fans finally had something to shout about. And all was well in a PSL world which had seen just one first-half goal in SEVEN GAMES.

At 2-0, it was all over. But Cuthbert Malajila capped it all with a third and despite Kaizer Chiefs beating AmaTuks 1-0 - a Killer Mphela penalty decided it - the seven-year wait for a Masandawana title was DONE.

Mosimane added: "Patrice Motsepe called me when we had drawn two games and we were 11 points behind Chiefs. He said I must relax. But I always said we would win this. Now I must call Roger de Sa and ask him how he got to the African Champions League final."

The AmaKhosi cannot begrudge Sundowns this title. Stuart Baxter's men had it all wrapped up amid a nine-match unbeaten run barely two months ago but they tailed off badly, just as they did last season when they hung on to win it from Platinum Stars.

Elsewhere, amid that second-half goal-rush, Golden Arrows finally fell through the relegation trap-door when they lost 1-0 at KwaZulu Natal rivals AmaZulu and Gavin Hunt's Bidvest Wits could only manage a goalless draw.

With their kick-off delayed 15 minutes to allow their yellow-clad fans free entrance, Sundowns finished their title triumph in glorious isolation.

Mind the gap: How it looked

Not since Screamer Tshabalala did it with Sundowns in the 1980s has the South African championship been won by an African coach. Pitso has talked of sweating blood, eating grass and shedding tears this season, and I for one loved every minute.

He has his critics after a difficult spell in charge of the national team but in truth his results with Bafana Bafana easily match incumbent Gordon Igesund's efforts.

For Mosimane and his billionaire owner Patrice Motsepe, the job is done. Dutch legend Johan Neeskens and a host of foreigners just couldn't get Chloorkop together. Pitso did. In style, with a game to play he has already broken the points record for a 30-game season.

A crowd invasion delayed the post-match interviews but who cane blame the long-suffering Tshwane fans after three years of Soweto dominance?

With 64 points already on the board, Pitso grinned: "Our last game against Maritzburg United on Saturday will be just another league game. Training like normal. We want to add to that record!"

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 and Pray” column every Tuesday in www.thenewage.co.za.

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FULL LIST OF PSL WINNERS AND POINTS TALLIES on 30-game format

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

Why football's a funny old game... but for Kaizer Chiefs, Sundowns are no laughing matter

Khune Konfounded: Sundowns' freak goal

AS Stuart Baxter found out yet again on Saturday night, football is a funny old game. But as we’ve been saying for a few weeks now, Pitso Mosimane can no longer be considered funny.

The axed Bafana Bafana coach’s bizarre but vital win over champions and once-runaway leaders Kaizer Chiefs at Soccer City – Baxter’s first home league defeat in nearly two seasons – was met by disbelief in many quarters, but not by Pitso as his side moved level on 52 points at the top.

Though their dramatic 1-0 victory – based on a Teko Modise chip that should never have entered any respectable net – was met by utter self-belief by Mosimane as he strives to become the first black South African coach to win the PSL.

Though they started strongly, Masandawana were on the back foot for most of the game as Willard Katsande and Reneilwe Letsholonyane denied Modise and the highly-paid Sundowners the time and space to create anything meaningful to threaten a clean-sheeted return for the great Itumeleng Khune.

At the sharp end, with Knowledge Musona injured, Chiefs were on top while Bernard Parker was doing his version of the invisible man and Kingston Nkatha continued to test the patience of bamboozled AmaKhosi fans, who turned up in numbers for what was billed “The Title Decider”.

But Pitso saw none of this. In his mind, this win – welcomed by neutrals as it opens up the title race with six games to play – was justified, right, earned. And when you consider Bernard Parker’s free-kick in the reverse fixture, I guess he’s right.

Pitso said: “Let's be honest, it was a one-goal game. We got it. We earned it. We are sweating for it. Why can't we go to FNB and get respect?

"The guys are there, they fight, they work very hard. And I told you that whoever wins it is never, never gonna get it on a silver platter.

"But let's be honest, it's only three points, it doesn't mean anything. You can't win tonight and then you go to Bloemfontein Celtic and you don't concentrate.”

Pitso had little mercy on a vanquished foe with a right to feel slightly aggrieve. He added: "If you keep Shabba quiet, you are okay. Katsande can have the ball, he's not so much of a harm. You deal with the Zimbabwean striker (Nkatha).

"Ja, we are lucky that Knowledge was not here. So it's okay, you can let Morgan (Gould) have the ball, you know where he's gonna kick it. So it's there, there's nothing new.

"We are doing what we have to do. We will go game by game. We absorb the pressure, and we are good."

Baxter was utterly bemused. He said: "I look at the game and if there's any satisfaction it's that it takes a freak goal to beat us at FNB. But that's scant comfort at the moment.

“You talk about luck, skill, good play by the opposition. The top teams don't usually bitch about that, they usually go on to score a goal in any case."

But perhaps this final stanza from Pitso: "I'd rather be Kaizer Chiefs than Sundowns at this point in time. They've got the games, they've got the points, and they've got a game in hand.”

"It's only bragging rights, we're still behind.”

Only just Pitso. Only just.

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 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.

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.

 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!