Flying start: Phakamani Mahlambi of Wits and Thandani Khuboni of Aces during a premiership match last year. This week Mahlambi sealed his return with a goal against Ajax.
Many fans of the local game were miffed when the Premier Soccer League (PSL) took a six-week break in honour of the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon). Their frustration was somewhat justified by the fact that Bafana Bafana had failed to qualify for the biennial tournament.
Granted, a handful of players from the burgeoning local league, notably from Zimbabwe, Ghana and Uganda, were involved in Afcon, but did that justify the decision to suspend the league when they already have such a heavy backlog of fixtures?
Although some people confessed to be suffering from withdrawal symptoms because of Afcon, and despite countless complaints that they could not wait for the resumption of the domestic action, it was painful and embarrassing to witness row upon row of empty seats at Johannesburg’s FNB Stadium when Kaizer Chiefs hosted Free State Stars.
The attendance at the resumption of the league was so low that PSL chairperson Irvin Khoza and his executive committee must be scratching their heads, wondering what to do to get more bums on seats.
After Sundowns lifted the CAF (Confederation of African Football) Champions League cup, South Africa’s exuberant and flamboyant minister of sport, Fikile Mbalula, proudly declared that the global village will now recognise that football is played at the southern tip of the continent.
Although nobody can dispute the aggressive marketing that has gone into building the product into the most commercially successful on the continent, the pitiful attendances at PSL matches must cast serious doubts over the strength and appeal of the local product.
And, although there was a chronic shortage of goals in Gabon, they were not in short supply on the domestic front when Bidvest Wits put Ajax Cape Town to the sword, handing them a 5-0 drubbing, and Chiefs gave Free State Stars a 3-1 beating.
Wits’s Phakamani Mahlambi, the 19-year-old prodigy who has returned to domestic football following a yearlong injury-induced layoff, scored one of the goals in Tuesday’s match. Little wonder, then, that coach Gavin Hunt is reluctant to release him for the upcoming CAF under-20 Nations Cup tournament starting in Zambia in a fortnight.
Mahlambi burst on to the local scene a year ago but a knee injury, requiring surgery, curtailed his progression and dashed his Olympic dreams. Repairing the knee ligaments would have meant losing his lightning pace, so his older brother, Mothombi, stepped up to provide part of his own hamstring for the operation.
And, as the Buccaneers dither over the appointment of a new coach, caretaker Augusto Palacios was left fuming at officials after his side only managed to draw with Platinum Stars at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium. It might be better for the coach to look instead at his own team, who failed to impress and created few opportunities, as they have done for much of this season.
The Brazilians, with half a dozen games in hand, creaked back to life and, in a game with few chances, managed to scrape a 1-0 result against Celtic. Coach Pitso Mosimane conceded that their Champions League experience helped his charges get the result.
Two African superclubs meet at Pretoria’s Loftus Stadium on Saturday. Sundowns will still have fresh memories of the self-same Pirates humiliating them at the same venue a year ago, at a time when they were riding the crest of a wave and an Oupa Manyisa stunner handed the visitors a 2-1 victory. For Downs it will be an opportunity for atonement, whereas Pirates could make a statement about their ambitions.
Although it might not equal the Manchester derby between United and their noisy City neighbours in intensity, the Cape Town City clash against Ajax on Sunday has all the hallmarks of a memorable thriller.
For PSL fans who have suffered a six-week hiatus, there’s more than enough reason to make their way to the stadium.
WEEKEND FIXTURES
• Mamelodi Sundowns vs Orlando Pirates
• Golden Arrows vs Bloemfontein Celtic
• Maritzburg United vs Kaizer Chiefs
• Ajax Cape Town vs Cape Town City
•Highlands Park vs Polokwane City