It will be a Cape Town derby with a twist when Ajax Cape Town plays Santos at the Athlone stadium on Saturday in the final of the Absa Cup.

South Africa’s quest to conquer African football has seldom materialised into a sustained challenge.

Nobody could have imagined that Orlando Pirates would be knocked out in the early stages of the Absa Cup, even their opponents. Silver Stars co-director Larry Brookstone says: “We were flattered just to be on the same field with Pirates. This is a wonderful achievement in the history of the club.”

Rarely in soccer has one team proved such an obstacle for one coach. No team coached by Gordon Igesund, from Manning Rangers to, recently, Ajax Cape Town, has succeeded in beating Kaizer Chiefs.

Nigeria have become a hoodoo team for Banyana Banyana. On Sunday at Orlando stadium the South African women’s national team will try to beat the Super Falcons for the first time in five attempts.

Every club would like to be the first to get its name inscribed on a new trophy — and bank the prize money, of course. But the randomness of the draw sometimes means the heavyweights could fall at the first hurdle

Golden Arrows, one of three KwaZulu-Natal teams in the Premier Soccer League (PSL), first displayed their enterprising brand of soccer in the top flight three years ago.

Time is not on the side of teams in the relegation zone, who have three or fewer games remaining to prove that they are premiership material.

He was unearthed by Santos, but never used to his full potential. His move to Supersport United brought him out of his shell into the limelight with his dazzling display of dribbling and his ability to outmanoeuvre defenders and score goals.

The South African under-23 team, Amaglug-glug, find themselves between a rock and a hard place as they have been drawn to face Angola in their final qualifying game for the All Africa Games. Only one will get a place in the games to be held in Nigeria in October.