The time has come for the Bafana Bafana players to show the nation what they’re made of. The team needs to produce some winning performances to ensure qualification for the 2006 World Cup and African Cup of Nations. This must start on Sunday with the crucial qualifier against Uganda in Kampala.
Sir Alex Ferguson will be offered a beefed-up role at Old Trafford by Malcolm Glazer as part of the American tycoon’s attempt to reverse fans’ hostile reaction to his takeover plans. Glazer and his advisers are understood to have been shocked by the level of opposition from groups such as Shareholders United to their ambition to buy Manchester United.
In South Africa it always used to be the case that when the north was strong the Springboks were strong. For north read Northern Transvaal, now officially (as opposed to affectionately) known as the Blue Bulls. The Bulls are heading for their third Currie Cup in a row and the Springboks are the Tri-Nations champions. QED.
This week the financially troubled South African Football Association (Safa) got a vote of confidence when LG Electronics decided to become the official supplier to Bafana Bafana and Safa. The sponsorship will see Safa get R10-million a year for the next three years and South Africa host next year’s four-nations LG Cup.
It’s all a bit convenient isn’t it? England play Wales in the international game of the weekend and – poof! – Michael Owen has “a muscle strain”. Suddenly the whole pick-him-or-axe-him debate about the struggling striker can be filed under the enormous category of “fitness problems”. Truth is, the Real Madrid striker is simply not performing at the moment.
On the face of it, this week’s score-line reads Arsenal 1 Chelsea 0. And this result will echo through the corridors of football for the next 15 years. Yup, Arsenal have nipped in and grabbed Chelsea’s outgoing sponsor, Emirates Airlines, and secured a deal worth £100-million starting from 2006/07.
Zimbabwe captain Tatenda Taibu was hoping his makeshift side would draw inspiration from a strong recent showing against Sri Lanka when they take on the Asian champions here on Saturday. Zimbabwe, looking to bounce back after two defeats to Pakistan in the ongoing tri-series, would take heart from their performance against Sri Lanka at the ICC Champions trophy in England last month, he said.
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The army of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has prevented 1 100 refugees returning home from Burundi, leaving them stuck in no-man’s-land between the two countries, officials said on Thursday. The trucks had been rented privately and the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, was not involved in this impromptu repatriation attempt.