Kaizer Chiefs is ending the season the way Orlando Pirates started it. On Wednesday night, Supersport United inflicted the most pain on Orlando Pirates after they lost 1-0 to Kaizer Chiefs. This was the second time United denied Pirates happiness. The first time was when Supersport United came back from a 4-1 drubbing to beat Pirates 4-3.
Mathematically, current Premier Soccer League (PSL) champions Kaizer Chiefs are in the best position to retain the title. All they have to do, to go with an already superior goal difference, is win four league games on the trot — something they haven’t been able to do the entire season.
It is that time of the season when the championship, relegation and promotion race heats up. First, the championship race, which seemed destined for Orlando Pirates for the third time, has now become highly contested. Pirates — who at one point had opened a 12-point gap — have faltered at the final hurdle.
Three South African soccer clubs taking part in the Confederation of African Football continental cup competitions have been tasked this weekend to do the improbable, if not the impossible, for two of these clubs have to reverse their first-round losses. Kaizer Chiefs and Supersport United have both complained about allegedly bad refereeing decisions.
The world looks beautiful for Bafana Bafana as national coach Stuart Baxter’s side look down from the top of World Cup and African Cup of Nations qualifying group B. A lot has changed since Baxter was appointed on April 1 last year. At the time, the Englishman’s appointment was met with disapproval in certain soccer circles.
The excitement of the Absa Cup starts this weekend, and the boys will be separated from the men as they try to reach the quarterfinals. For the lower-division teams, it will be do or die against the Premier Soccer League teams. It seems the lower-division teams have reached the end of the road unless they plan to surprise their opposition, as Silver Stars did in 2003.
Stuart Baxter need not worry too much about his team scoring goals in the last round of the 2006 African Nations and World Cup qualifiers. The Bafana Bafana coach has unearthed a gem in the young and talented Katlego Mphela. The 20-year-old striker, who now plays for Strasbourg in the French league, scored three goals over the weekend.
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/ 25 February 2005
Lower-division teams will have an uphill battle in the Absa Cup this weekend, with only four of the 16 ties pitting non-Premier Soccer League (PSL) sides against each other. But the Davids might surprise as a couple of the PSL Goliaths are playing poorly at the moment. In particular, Santos and Sundowns — both former league champions — look ripe for a fall.
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/ 18 February 2005
Trouble seems to follow the Vilakazi family. A day after Orlando Pirates midfielder Benedict Vilakazi was charged with rape, his wife, Motshabi, was charged with assaulting the 15-year-old girl who accused her husband of rape. Motshabi appeared in the Booysens Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
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/ 11 February 2005
There has been an increase in the number of Premier Soccer League players who have been caught using cannabinoids (dagga), a prohibited substance. Two more players in the league will face the South African Football Association disciplinary committee for using this banned substance.