Passing the 50 mark in cricket is seen as a noteworthy landmark. Reaching the 50 mark in the Fifa world rankings for Bafana Bafana on Wednesday was nothing short of entering an abyss — with South Africa’s national soccer team plummeting to their lowest ranking in 11 years.

With six notable players listed as non-starters because of injuries, most soccer managers might be inclined to experience a succession of sleepless nights before a crucial top-of-the-log encounter. Not so Sundowns’ Neil Tovey as he fine-tunes his squad for the battle against Kaizer Chiefs at the FNB Stadium on Wednesday night.

Orlando Pirates’ complement of players in Bafana Bafana’s ill-fated African Nations Cup campaign experienced mixed levels of success — and the group have provided an equally mixed legacy on their return to the Buccaneers’ training camp. A Buccaneers spokesperson revealed Benedict Vilakazi returned from Egypt with a hamstring injury, which is expected to keep him out of soccer for two to four weeks.

South African Football Association (Safa) CEO Raymond Hack has ”set the record straight” over what he termed ”incorrect, distorted and misleading reports” regarding the ”hot potato” post of Bafana Bafana coach. The reports are attributed to Safa president Molefi Oliphant, who initially confirmed his comments and then seemed to back down.

”There is a loud crack as Don Quixote charges the windmill, which he believes to be an adversial, but palpably vulnerable giant,” wrote Miguel de Cervantes in his immortalised account about the lantern-jawed, lanky knight. Ted Dumitru has done his fair share of tilting at windmills since succeeding Stuart Baxter at the helm of Bafana Bafana.

A succession of guided Russian missiles in a penalty shoot-out that Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Rowen Fernandez had precious little chance of saving gave FC Moscow an entertaining, action-packed victory in the international club friendly at the FNB Stadium on Saturday night.

Multimillion-rand soccer takeovers are becoming something of a habit among Russians — and FC Moscow are not immune. The Russian club, fresh from a recent takeover that is designed to lift them into the top echelon of European clubs, arrived in South Africa on Wednesday for a friendly fixture against Kaizer Chiefs.

The pride of the pharaohs is at stake — and coach Ted Dumitru expects a fierce onslaught from Egypt when Bafana Bafana face the African Nations Cup hosts in a final warm-up encounter at the International Stadium in Cairo on Saturday. ”Egypt are making a special effort to achieve success on home soil,” Dumitru said.