The unpredictable Moroka Swallows were flying high after delivering a crushing blow to Ajax Cape Town's Premier Soccer League title aspirations with a come-from-behind 2-1 victory on Sunday. In other matches, Sundowns beat Chiefs 1-0; Celtic and Leopards drew 2-2; and AmaZulu and Platinum Stars drew 0-0.
Kaizer Chiefs moved into the top half of the Absa Premiership table after walloping Moroka Swallows 3-1 in a league match at a packed Olympia Park Stadium in Rustenburg on Sunday. Mabhuti Khenyeza, Jonathan Quartey and Thuso Phala scored for Chiefs, while Swallows' lone goal came from the boot of James Chamanga.
After all the endless mediocre, soulless PSL games played in front of near-empty stadiums, Mamelodi Sundowns' penalty shoot-out victory over rivals Kaizer Chiefs in the Nedbank Cup at King's Park in Durban on Sunday evening provided high drama and exceptional entertainment.
Benni McCarthy created a record and South Africa equalled one as they outclassed Paraguay 3-0 in a lively international friendly on Wednesday. Blackburn Rovers striker McCarthy headed the crucial second goal two minutes after half-time at Super Stadium near Pretoria to overtake retired Shaun Bartlett and become the leading national team scorer with 30 goals.
A pedestrian Bafana Bafana outfit needed an own goal to beat Zimbabwe 2-1 in a friendly international match at the Germiston Stadium on Tuesday evening. Gilbert Mushangazhike struck first for the visitors in the 12th minute. Sthembiso Ngcobo equalised in the 73rd minute and his feeble shot at goal deflected off James Matola late in extra time to give the hosts an unforeseen victory.
"Yo-yo man" Benni McCarthy is back in the Bafana Bafana squad to play Paraguay on March 26 -- strengthening the suspicion that the enigmatic striker requested coach Carlos Albero Parreira not to include him in the squad for the recent African Nations Cup tournament in Ghana.
The bookmakers may well have shut up shop and refused to take bets on a goalless draw for the Premier League game between bottom-of-the-log Jomo Cosmos and struggling Kaizer Chiefs at Orkney's Oppenheimer Stadium on Sunday afternoon.
South Africa goalkeeper Rowen Fernandez has been ruled out of the African Cup of Nations Group D clash against Angola in Ghana next Wednesday. The national football association said the Germany-based custodian injured several fingers in a warm-up match against Mozambique last Sunday and was a spectator when South Africa beat Botswana 2-1 on Wednesday.
Kaizer Chiefs's Itumeleng Khune won this year's awards for goalkeeper and player of the Telkom Knockout Cup at a ceremony held at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Tuesday. The 23-year-old not only received the trophies for his outstanding performances, but also a whopping R300 000.
After a painstaking 120 minutes of meticulous football, Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune emerged the hero as he made three saves in the Telkom Knockout Cup final to give his team another famous cup victory over Mamelodi Sundowns at a packed Loftus Stadium on Saturday night.
South Africa have ditched star striker Benni McCarthy for the 2008 African Nations Cup in Ghana. Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira also dumped first-choice defender Bradley Carnell and midfielders Delron Buckley and Macbeth Sibaya from a 23-man squad named on Friday.
The sultry Durban weather did not deter Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs from entertaining a capacity crowd with four fantastic goals in a pulsating Premier Soccer League match at the Absa Stadium on Saturday. Chiefs striker Mabhudi Khanyeza scored one of the quickest goals, in 17 seconds, to be seen in South Africa.
Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has been hoarding candidates for the South African squad to participate in the African Nations Cup in Ghana early in the new year. On Friday, he added to his not inconsiderable collection when he introduced a host of new names in the squad to play Lesotho on Tuesday night.
In what has generally been a bleak and frustrating season, Kaizer Chiefs discovered a ray of sunshine at a scorchingly hot Mmabatho Stadium on Saturday afternoon and qualified for the Telkom Knockout final with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Bloemfontein Celtic.
Kaizer Chiefs left behind their inconsistent ways by taking down Free State Stars 3-0 in wet conditions in their Absa Premiership match played at Olympia Park in Rustenburg on Wednesday night. Kinnah Phiri's charges collapsed when it mattered most -- in the second half -- as Mabhuti Khanyeza, Onismor Bhasera and Shaun Bartlett scored goals.
A superb strike by Siphiwe Tshabalala earned Kaizer Chiefs a semifinal berth in the Telkom Knockout Cup when they beat SuperSport United 1-0 at the Loftus Stadium on Sunday. Ironically, SuperSport had the better chances to win the game but bad finishing and the crossbar denied the hosts victory.
Kaizer Chiefs tempted fate and won a blood-and-thunder, error-infested Telkom Knockout game against Moroka Swallows by a 3-1 penalty shoot-out margin after the teams had finished level 2-2 after extra-time at Loftus on Saturday night. In truth, the Amakhosi should have had their place in the quarterfinals signed and sealed in the opening period against an amateurish, out-of-touch Swallows.
After a period extending over six seasons and 11 games without a Premier Soccer League victory over Kaizer Chiefs, Ajax Cape Town on Saturday night earned a dour, back-to-the-wall 1-0 victory over their nemeses that elevated them to top position in the log.
SuperSport United held Kaizer Chiefs to a 0-0 draw in an entertaining Premier Soccer League game at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Sunday. Chiefs had the better chances and played with a swagger that had the hosts on the back foot for most of the game, but could not beat the superb Dennis Onyango in goal.
A bungling South Africa lost 3-1 to a majestic Ghana team in an Olympic soccer qualifier at the Olen Park Stadium in Potchefstroom on Saturday. Ghana striker Prince Tagoe scored twice and midfielder Obed Ansah netted a splendid goal to join Nigeria at the top of the three-team group competing for a place at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
