Flirting with disaster for much of the game, Premier Soccer League champions Mamelodi Sundowns ultimately scraped into the Absa Cup final by the skin of their teeth at Potchefstroom’s murky Olen Park on Wednesday night to keep their hopes of a double alive. The Brazilians edged home 5-4 in a penalty shoot-out after finishing level 1-1 with a gallant Silver Stars after extra time.
Having ended their six lean years in triumphant fashion by annexing the Premier Soccer League (PSL) championship for the past two seasons, Mamelodi Sundowns will be pursuing a prized double by adding the PSL’s major knock-out cup to their trophy cabinet when they face Silver Stars in an Absa Cup semifinal on Wednesday night.
They might have failed to net what is the biggest fish of all among the soccer titles on the continent, but Premier Soccer League champions Mamelodi Sundowns are still hoping to haul in what would be a notable treble from Africa’s teeming soccer pool this year, says Sundowns coach Gordon Igesund.
Billed as the ”derby of the damned”, the showdown between traditional rivals Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs evolved into a desperate 1-1 Premier Soccer League draw at Ellis Park on Saturday afternoon. Chiefs dominated the opening period against a listless Buccaneers.
It might have been labelled the ”derby of the damned”, with the teams damned by their own supporters for a succession of uninspiring performances this season, but the sold-out signs still went up on Friday morning for Saturday’s showdown between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs at Ellis Park.
”They haven’t come to South Africa for a soccer game in 100 years,” said Danny Jordaan at a media briefing of the newly formed South African Football Association (Safa) commercial wing on Wednesday, ”but you can be sure world champions Italy will now be in the queue clamouring to come here before the 2010 tournament.”
The South African Football Association (Safa) on Monday claimed a ”campaign of hate” was being waged in sections of the media against soccer’s national controlling organisation and some of its top officials — with little regard of how it would affect South African soccer or the hosting of the World Cup in 2010.
It was more like a relay race on the athletics track than a studied Premier Soccer League football clash as play hurtled from one end of the pitch to the other during a frantic 1-1 draw between Black Leopards and Bloemfontein Celtic at Thohoyandou on Saturday night.
All-conquering in the Premier Soccer League this season, the journey to the land of the pyramids and the Nile proved a bridge too far for Mamelodi Sundowns as they were comprehensively beaten 2-0 by Al-Ahly in a second-leg African Champions League encounter at Cairo’s National Stadium on Friday night.
The Bolivia bungle, during which Bafana Bafana became the first team to lose a home game against South America’s most unfashionable soccer nation in more than 10 years, has cost South Africa a place among the top 60 in Fifa’s monthly rankings.