The fuel crisis which has hit South Africa in recent weeks seemed to afflict a powder-puff Amaglug-glug at Orlando Stadium on Sunday afternoon as South Africa’s under-23 team gained an embarrassing 1-1 draw with a Chinese team made up of under-19 players.

In a match filled with many nostalgic moments, illustrious former soccer stars playing for a European combination gained a 3-1 win over the African XI in what was billed as ”The Battle of the Legends” at a rain-swept Ellis Park on Saturday night. And no one demonstrated the ingrained skills any better than Italy’s Roberto di Matteo.

George Weah, Roger Milla, Abedi Pele and Tony Yeboah, four of the brightest luminaries in the African soccer firmament, were nowhere in sight on Friday only 24 hours before they were due to play against a team of former European stars in ”The Battle of the Legends” at Ellis Park.

The unsuspecting might have imagined this was the African Nations Cup itself as Bafana Bafana secured a 2-1 win over a Premier Soccer League (PSL) XI in a hammer-and-tongs dress rehearsal at King’s Park in Durban on Friday night. Calvin Marlin in the Bafana goal gave a characteristically flawless performance.

In the latest flare-up of what has become a minefield of Bafana Bafana confrontations on the eve of the African Nations Cup, deposed captain and Blackburn United defender Aaron Mokoena on Thursday ”walked out” of the forthcoming tournament in Egypt.

Benni McCarthy is well and alive — and raring to play for Bafana Bafana in the forthcoming African Nations Cup. This was the emphatic assurance given by coach Ted Dumitru on Tuesday while refuting reports that the dazzling, but enigmatic Porto striker, intended asking the South African Football Association to release him from the tournament in Egypt.

Orlando Pirates’ contingent of a record six players in the provisional Bafana Bafana squad is already ”on board” for this month’s African Nations Cup tournament in Egypt. The selection of Benedict Vilakazi, Joseph Makhanya, Siyabonga Nomvete, Tonic Chabalala, Lebohang Mokoena and Gift Leremi has been confirmed by the club’s management.

”Toothless Tigers” Orlando Pirates on Friday confirmed they had secured the services of a second leading striker — Bloemfontein Celtic’s Collins Chabalala. Pirates PRO Mike Modisane said the signings showed the club ”meant business” — both in the Premier League and in Africa’s Champions League

A day in the life of a Bafana Bafana coach is traditionally not free of some degree of turbulence — but Ted Dumitru could hardly have expected the shock news on Tuesday that in-form Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Emile Baron had ”bolted” from the squad for the coming African Nations Cup.

Former Bafana Bafana captain and joint Mamelodi Sundowns caretaker coach Neil Tovey has this advice for club president Patrice Motsepe: stop looking for a coach. The Brazilians’ fortunes have undergone a stunning transformation in the past two weeks since Tovey and former assistant coach Miguel Gramondi jointly took over the coaching.