/ 16 September 2011

Science plays into Pirates’ hands

A scientific approach to the game is behind the sudden rise of Orlando Pirates to the summit of South African football, while a former Kaizer Chiefs legend has urged the Amakhosi to forget last week’s defeat and focus on Saturday’s Absa Premiership tie at the FNB Stadium.

In a week in which Chiefs’ goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune’s confidence must have been shot to pieces by harsh criticism from his own supporters, vilifying him for his inability to stop Oupa Manyisa’s long-range effort, Zachariah “Maria Maria” Lamola has come up with words of advice for Khune.

“People should not be emotional,” cautioned Lamola, who was hounded out of Chiefs by harsh criticism from the very same people who hero-worshipped him because of his fast thinking and gave him the nickname “Computer”.

“We have to be realistic and accept that at the moment Pirates are on top of their game. They are performing very well and must be complimented without condemning individuals. Spectators and club owners must know that there is no player who enters the field with the intention to lose.”

Lamola once scored an own goal against Orlando Pirates during the 1980 BP Top Eight and endured such a torrid period from the Chiefs supporters that he ended up quitting his beloved “Phefeni” side the next year.

“There is no perfect human being,” said Lamola this week. “And even the so-called very good footballers are also subject to making mistakes.

“Defending is not determined by one man but is a collective effort. It’s a pity that Khune happened to be the last man. In football it is important that people should accept defeat in a sporting spirit, even against rivals Pirates.

“Khune should not look to the past but learn from the past,” Lamola said. “In other words, whatever mistakes Khune has committed, they should prepare him for the future.”

But with Chiefs now counting last week as the third straight loss in the same season against their bitter rivals — following defeats with similar scores 1-0 in the Vodacom Challenge and the Carling Black Label Cup – a backroom boy in the Pirates technical staff is chuckling to himself.

It is not Julio Cesar Leal, although the head coach has also contributed to the free-flowing “tika-taka” type of football now a feature of the Soweto team, but fitness trainer Japhet Borges Neto, who is responsible for turning Pirates into a formidable machine capable of running everyone to the ground.

Borges is a qualified fitness trainer who has worked for countless clubs in his native Brazil. When Moroka Swallows snatched the Nedbank Cup, he was the man behind their conditioning. He is the fellow who ensures that Pirates players can withstand the high physical demands of Premiership football.

Never before in the history of local football have Pirates dominated their traditional rivals as they have in recent years and the manner in which they have shaken the monkey off their shoulders has puzzled many people. But the secret is now out — Borges is the key.

“The missing ingredient in our football has always been our lack of a scientific approach to the game,” Pirates chairman Irvin Khoza has said. And he not only spoke about it but imported Borges to demonstrate what he meant by a scientific approach.

“The modern game has evolved and changed so much that players need to be checked for their body mass, their body fat, muscles, diet and all important physical factors that we never considered as important in the past,” Khoza said.

And it was evident when Pirates clawed their way from 2-1 down to snatch a dramatic 3-2 victory over Mamelodi Sundowns that it was their superior condition that helped them overcome a quality side like Sundowns, who faded badly towards the end.

During the recent African Nations Cup qualifier against Niger in sweltering Niamey, there was a time when the legs of both teams seemed to buckle under the intensity of the match, but Andile Jali resembled the rabbit in that famous advert for a certain brand of batteries: he just kept going.

Chiefs started the season brightly and briefly went to the top but they will not be considered serious title challengers unless they stop the rot, particularly against strong opposition like Pirates.