With the Premier Soccer League (PSL) title already in the bag and an Absa Cup semifinal berth indicating bright prospects of a PSL ”double”, Mamelodi Sundowns left South Africa for their most imposing and difficult challenge of all against Egypt’s Al-Ahly in the CAF second-leg Champions League clash.
On a balmy, autumn afternoon at Loftus on Sunday, Kaizer Chiefs hit rock bottom against a sprightly Black Leopards and plunged to a 2-0 defeat. In other matches, Golden Arrows drew 1-1 with Supersport United and Amazulu appeared to be coming out of their slump when they scored a well-deserved 3-1 win over Benoni Premier United.
Moroka Swallows improved their prospects of gaining the Premier Soccer League’s runners-up position and qualification for next year’s CAF Champions League after outplaying a strangely listless Bloemfontein Celtic at the Seisa Ramabodu Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Mamelodi Sundowns came back from a soccer grave to keep their CAF Champions League hopes alive with a never-say-die, nerve-jangling 2-2 draw against defending champions al-Ahly in the first-leg, third-round clash at Loftus on Saturday night. Oscar Ntwagae and Jose Torrealba scored the two goals.
The issue of crime is a problem for all South Africans — it is not a World Cup problem. This view was expressed by South African World Cup local organising committee CEO Danny Jordaan at a media briefing in Johannesburg on Tuesday outlining the ongoing preparations for the 2010 tournament.
Moroka Swallows disregarded the adage of not looking a gift horse in the mouth and failed to grasp the rare opportunity of beating a listless, 10-man Kaizer Chiefs in the 1-1 Premier League derby on Sunday afternoon. Swallows, who somehow contrived to make matters difficult for themselves against their traditional Soweto rivals, this time secured a point that earns them third place in the PSL log.
Bafana Bafana beat Chad 3-0 in an African Nations Cup qualifying game that was transformed into a desert storm at the dusty Stade Omnisport in N’djamena on Saturday afternoon. Only a succession of missed chances by Sibusiso Zuma prevented Bafana from opening the score before the 32nd minute on a pitch where the ball often bounced erratically.
Denmark-based Siyabonga Nomvete, the 20th and final player to arrive at Bafana Bafana’s Johannesburg training camp, made a belated appearance on Wednesday — but questions were still raised over whether he would be included in the starting line-up against Chad in the African Nations Cup qualifier in Ndjamena on Saturday.
While Bafana Bafana on Tuesday took a further step towards closing ranks for their away African Nations Cup qualifying game with 19 of the 20 players now ensconced in their Johannesburg camp, the modestly regarded minnows of Chad were not allowing the dust to settle under their feet in dusty Ndjamena — the venue for Saturday’s game.
The riddle confronting Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira over which goalkeeper to field in next Saturday’s African Nations Cup qualifier against Chad was on Friday solved by an injury to Mamelodi Sundowns’ Calvin Marlin. Marlin has withdrawn because of a nagging wrist injury.