Jomo Cosmos are not pushing the panic buttons … just yet. Ezenkosi suffered their ninth defeat of the season when they were beaten 3-1 away to Bloemfontein Celtic on the weekend, which sees them drop to 15th spot on the Absa Premiership with 22 points — the same number as bottom team Black Leopards.
Mamelodi Sundowns created a South African soccer record when they reached their fourth successive cup final on Sunday after beating AmaZulu 1-0 at Potchefstroom’s Olen Park in the semifinal of the Nedbank Cup. Downs were runners up in last season’s Absa Cup — the Nedbank Cup’s predecessor.
Platinum Stars face the biggest match of their short history when they host the African club of the century, Al Ahly, in an African Champions League showdown at Atteridgeville’s Super Stadium on Saturday. Facing the holders of the Champions League title — arguably the best and most successful club side in Africa — does not scare Stars.
It is starting to come together at last for Mamelodi Sundowns. After failing to defend their Absa Premiership title and sacking one of the country’s top coaches in Gordon Igesund earlier this season, the Brazilians have finally turned the corner under caretaker coach Trott Moloto, who replaced Igesund.
The giants enter the African club battleground this weekend as second round combat begins in the two major competitions. Both title holders hail from Tunisia and enjoy home advantage with Etoile Sahel playing AS Douanes of Senegal in the African Champions League while CS Sfaxien meet JSM Bejaia of Algeria in the African Confederation Cup.
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/ 12 February 2008
Premier Soccer League champions Mamelodi Sundowns turned the tables on AmaZulu and gained a timely 2-1 victory at the King Zwelithini Stadium on Monday night to avenge a home defeat by a similar margin against the Durban team earlier in the season.
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/ 10 February 2008
Egypt retained their Africa Cup of Nations crown on Sunday when Mohamed Aboutraika lifted the champions to a 1-0 win over Cameroon and a record sixth title. The defending champions ensured they held on to the trophy when, after a slick passing movement, Aboutraika struck in the 77th minute. ”We are delighted to win. It’s a great achievement,” said the al-Ahly star.
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/ 8 February 2008
Mark Gleeson is a living legend of African football — and probably the only man at the Africa Cup of Nations who has been photographed naked for the Serbian edition of Playboy. It was not full frontal, which is just as well as he’s taller than Peter Crouch.
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/ 27 January 2008
Veteran striker Francileudo dos Santos scored twice as Tunisia thrashed South Africa 3-1 on Sunday to go top of Group D in the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations. The Carthage Eagles have collected four points from two matches and lead on goals scored from Angola, who hit back in the second half to shock Senegal 3-1 in the first half of a double-header in Tamale.
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/ 12 November 2007
I will not hold it against you if you read this and think it is about football. But it is not. Last week the Premier Soccer League’s board of governors decided to pay some of their number a once-off R70-million gratuity, with luck ending months of speculation over payments to individuals instrumental in getting football’s sponsorship to top the R1-billion mark.
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/ 10 November 2007
Etoile Sahel of Tunisia stunned title holders Al-Ahly of Egypt 3-1 on Friday to win a first African Champions League title. No one outside Tunisia gave Etoile a chance at Cairo Stadium after they were held 0-0 two weeks ago in the first leg of the African Football Confederation club showpiece.
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/ 28 October 2007
Al-Ahly of Egypt closed on a record third consecutive African Champions League title after holding Etoile Sahel of Tunisia 0-0 in the first leg of the final on Saturday. Etoile failed to convert the two chances of a tight, tense clash and finished with 10 men after the 80th-minute dismissal of Mehdi Meriah for a professional foul.
Amine Chermiti scored twice as Etoile Sahel of Tunisia defeated Al-Hilal of Sudan 3-1 this weekend to reach a third African Champions League final in four years. Saber Ben Frej was also on target for Etoile as they squeezed through 4-3 on aggregate, having lost the first leg of the semifinal 2-1 in Omdurman two weeks ago.
Khartoum club Al-Hilal are on the brink of completing a fairytale year for football in Sudan as they head to Tunisia for the second leg of their African Champions League semifinal on Saturday. A place in the Champions League final would come just months after Sudan’s national side ended a three-decades drought.
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/ 28 September 2007
In the 1980s an unknown midfielder-cum-striker, Owen da Gama, came off the bench for Moroka Swallows to score in a 2-1 victory in the Soweto derby against Orlando Pirates. Little did he know then that he would one day be the Bucs’ head coach.
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/ 3 September 2007
Mamelodi Sundowns lost ground in their challenge for an African Confederation Cup final place this weekend after losing 1-0 to Astres Douala in Cameroon. A softly awarded penalty midway through the second half settled the Group A clash with Roland Ndjam sending Calvin Marlin the wrong way from the spot kick.