South Africa’s top teams face a hectic soccer schedule that will see at least two-thirds of the domestic league fixtures and four knockout competitions (the Vodacom Challenge, Telkom Charity Cup, SAA Super 8 and Coca-Cola Cup) completed before the Christmas break.
The Premier Soccer League this week released a jam-packed fixture list in which they announced their intention to kick off the 2005/06 league season on August 3 and conclude it by May 13 next year. A full round of games is scheduled for Wednesdays and the weekends.
For the first time Soweto giants Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs will play both their league games in the same year — adding spice to the bragging competition over the festive season.
”It will be a very difficult season and it is not going to be easy playing on Wednesday and Saturday every week and defending our cup titles,” SuperSport United corporate affairs manager David Skosana told the Mail & Guardian on Thursday.
”The club would be looking at strengthening the team by acquiring at least four more players, which could be promoted from our academy and recall those that were loaned out.”
SuperSport will ”rotate players” to cope with the congested programme and plans to boost their squad to at least 34 after using only 27 players last season.
Mamelodi Sundowns marketing director Alex Shakoane said: ”The coach will decide when he comes back from his holiday whether or not we need a bigger squad.”
Kaizer Chiefs team manager Bobby Motaung believes his 32-player squad is up to the tough schedule. ”It’s not a problem for us. We will be able to cope with the fixtures and that is why we withdrew from the Confederations Cup.” Their Soweto rivals were not available for comment on Thursday.
Next year’s African Nations Cup and World Cup competitions in January and June respectively have put pressure on the first five months of the PSL season.
The season will be gruelling on national squad players such as Siboniso Gaxa, Ricardo Katza, Benedict Vilakazi and Arthur Zwane who ply their trade in the domestic league. They will be in action next week when Bafana Bafana take on Ghana at the FNB Stadium in an African and World Cup qualifier. Bafana need six points from three games to win their group. The Ghana match will be a grudge encounter as the Black Stars inflicted a 3-0 defeat in the first-round clash.
Coach Stuart Baxter will be without ace strike Benni McCarthy, who is serving a one-match suspension. Back in the fold after injury lay-offs are leading marksmen Shaun Bartlett, Quinton Fortune and Bradley Carnell. All three are likely to get a run out in the Lucas Radebe benefit game at King’s Park stadium in Durban on Saturday night. Siyabonga Nomvete and Sandile Ndlovu have been placed on Baxter’s standby list as cover for Barlett.
Durban will be a hive of football activity this weekend as Durban Stars host Classic in the second round of the Mvela Golden League playoffs on Sunday.
Stars, though they lost 1-2 in the first leg, are a classy side and should turn the tables on Classic, who they beat twice in the Mvela League this season.
The winner of this clash faces either Manning Rangers or Hellenic, who will battle it out at the Sinaba stadium in Daveyton on Saturday. Hellenic has three away goals after beating Rangers 3-2 in Chatsworth last week and they look poised to progress to the finals.
The eventual winner of the remaining promotion slot — which will be finalised on June 25 — will have a month’s break before the glamour of top flight football kicks in.