The withdrawal affliction that hampers Bafana Bafana with regular monotony when it comes to Benni McCarthy struck again on Tuesday when the talented but enigmatic striker was withdrawn from the squad to play Senegal in the Nelson Mandela Cup game at the Port Elizabeth Rugby Stadium on Saturday.

The Premier Soccer League never ceases to surprise — and on Tuesday the national professional soccer body took the decision to stage the forthcoming Coca-Cola Cup semifinal between Ajax Cape Town and Supersport United at unfamiliar soccer territory in Kimberley.

Sometimes his presence has the soothing effect of a silver lining, but more often than not these days Benni McCarthy’s presence in the Bafana Bafana squad is shrouded by a dark cloud of uncertainty. McCarthy is ”under observation” for a lingering ankle injury and a doubtful starter for the Nelson Mandela Cup game on Saturday.

Man-mountain Senegalese striker Mamadou Diallou led the onslaught as Jomo Cosmos bundled holder Kaizer Chiefs out of the Coca-Cola Cup with an emphatic and deserved 2-0 victory at Rustenburg’s Olympia Park on Sunday afternoon. Chiefs battled resolutely with 10 men until the end.

Orlando Pirates, the self-proclaimed ”Happy People” of the Premier Soccer League, on Wednesday found themselves looking more like the ”Harassed People” as an assortment of problems descended on the glum Buccaneers camp. The increasingly shaky log leaders’ woes started with a defeat against Lamontville Golden Arrows.

When coach Stuart Baxter on Wednesday reveals the Bafana Bafana squad for next Saturday’s Nelson Mandela Cup game against Senegal in Port Elizabeth, the decision whether to include Orlando Pirates’ mercurial midfielder Benedict Vilakazi will be his and his alone.

A strategy to undertake the momentous task of hosting the 2010 Soccer World Cup and producing a home team that can acquit itself with credit in the tournament was launched by the South African Football Association (Safa) executive at a three-day indaba in Magaliesburg over the weekend.

After a good deal of haggling and horse trading, the South African Football Association (Safa) has chosen to play the Nelson Mandela Cup game between Bafana Bafana and Senegal at the Eastern Province Rugby Stadium in Port Elizabeth on Saturday November 13.

A season dominated by despair, destruction and disappointment for Kaizer Chiefs was transformed into unrestrained joy at the FNB Stadium on Saturday afternoon as the defending champions beat traditional derby foes and log leaders Orlando Pirates 2-0 and buried the ghost of a frustrating sequence of six Premier Soccer League draws.