Bafana Bafana’s midfielders Hlompho Kekana and Lerato Chabangu are confident of their Cosafa Cup semifinal against Chipololo on Wednesday.
Lerato Chabangu has continued to haunt Mamelodi Sundowns as he again powered Moroka Swallows to a win over his former team in the Absa Premiership.
Once notorious for off-field antics, Lerato Chabangu is back with a vengeance and swimming bravely upstream.
SuperSport United coach Gavin Hunt is taking no chances when the PSL champions meet their Ugandan counterparts Kampala City Council on Friday.
Needing all the help they can get on the evidence of their insipid 2-0 defeat against Nigeria on the weekend, Bafana Bafana were on Monday urgently seeking to rehabilitate their walking wounded before the vital second African Nations Cup qualifier against Equatorial Guinea at the Super Stadium on Saturday.
Football statistics are weighted in Nigeria’s favour at this weekend’s clash between the Super Eagles and Bafana Bafana. Nigeria may be in a renewal process of their own, but one cannot see how a Bafana side with a new coach, with no proven strikers and playing in front of a hostile crowd, will defeat them, writes Percy Zvomuya.
Now is the time for budding Bafana Bafana stars to stand up and be counted as South Africa take on Nigeria in a tough 2010 African Nations Cup qualifier in Abuja on Sunday. Kick-off is at 5pm South African time. There is no Benni McCarthy, and three midfield aces in Teko Modise, Delron Buckley and Lerato Chabangu are all nursing an assortment of injuries.
Veteran Bafana Bafana midfield hard man Macbeth Sibaya has a simple plan for beating Nigeria when the two enemies meet in a crunch 2010 African Nations Cup group four qualifier in Abuja on Sunday. The Russia-based midfield destroyer says the formula for victory over the Super Eagles is to stick to new coach Joel Santana’s game plan.
Bafana Bafana’s technical and communications staff were seemingly in a tizzy on Monday after confirmation that Benson Mhlongo had smashed his ankle and petulant Benni McCarthy had broken his word to arrive at the training camp on Monday prior to Sunday’s crucial African Nations qualifier against Nigeria.
It was going to take a special goal to win Nedbank Cup and the R6-million winner’s cheque. And it was a goal of sheer brilliance from Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Lerato Chabangu two minutes from time that earned the Brazilians a hard fought and largely undeserved 1-0 win over the gallant Mpumalanga Black Aces.
Fate has dealt a cruel hand to Mamelodi Sundowns’ budding right back, Papi Mungomeni. The 23-year-old, who has become a regular in the Brazilians’ starting line-up this season, will miss playing in Saturday’s Premier Soccer League (PSL) showpiece, the Nedbank Cup final against First Division Mpumalanga Black Aces at the Johannesburg Stadium.
Mamelodi Sundowns had their minds on Saturday’s Nedbank Cup final and paid the price when Free State Stars thumped the defending Premier Soccer League champions 4-0 in the final league fixture of the season. Meanwhile, Santos ended in third position on the league table after beating Platinum Stars 1-0, and Orlando Pirates beat AmaZulu 4-1.
Mamelodi Sundowns crashed out of the African Champions League despite beating Sudan champions Al-Hilal 1-0 at Atteridgeville’s Super Stadium in a hard-fought third-round, second-leg tie on Sunday. There was no score at half-time. Al-Hilal won 4-3 on aggregate.
It was heartbreak for Jomo Cosmos at Orkney’s Oppenheimer Stadium on Wednesday when an injury-time goal by Mamelodi Sundowns substitute Bryan Aldave plunged Ezenkosi further into the Absa Premiership relegation quagmire and earned Downs a 1-0 win.
It was going to take something special to win this tight Nedbank Cup semifinal between favourites Mamelodi Sundowns and AmaZulu at Potchefstroom’s Olen Park on Sunday. The piece of individual magic came from Downs Zimbabwean international midfielder whose stunning 66th minute goal earned the Brazilians their place in the final.
Ajax Cape Town’s hopes of winning the Absa Premiership were dealt a massive blow at Atteridgeville’s Super Stadium on Wednesday night when defending champions Sundowns crushed the Urban Warriors 2-0. Sundowns led the match 2-0 at half-time.
FC Cape Town took Mamelodi Sundowns to extra-time before the Premiership side finally triumphed 2-0 in a Nedbank Cup quarterfinal game played at a wet Athlone Stadium on Saturday night. The first half saw FC Cape Town paying scant respect to the Premiership champions as they dominated the game and at times made Sundowns look ordinary.
The belated resurrection of Mamelodi Sundowns continued at Loftus Stadium on Wednesday night as the defending Absa Premiership champions sauntered to a comfortable 2-0 victory over never-say-die, relegation-threatened Thanda Royal Zulu. The opening goal in the 31st minute was the result of a dazzling solo effort by the unpredictable Lerato Chabangu.
In-form Premier Soccer League champions Mamelodi Sundowns eased to a 3-0 victory over the unsophisticated Curepipe Starlight of Mauritius in the MTN Champions League’s first-round, first-leg encounter at the Super Stadium in Atteridgeville on Saturday.
Mamelodi Sundowns ensured that Limpopo-based Black Leopards remained deep in the relegation zone when they hammered them 3-0 in a fast, entertaining Absa Premiership game at Thohoyandou Stadium on Wednesday afternoon. There was no score at half-time.
Mamelodi Sundowns and Bloemfontein Celtic drew 0-0 in an exciting Premier Soccer League match on Saturday at Loftus Versfeld to both remain in the bottom half of the 16-team table. Sundowns, though, jumped to 12th place with 25 points, while Celtic stay 11th on 26 points.
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/ 24 February 2008
Bloemfontein Celtic beat Amazulu 3-2 in a Premier Soccer League (PSL) match at a packed Seisa Ramabodu Stadium in Bloemfontein on Sunday. In other matches, Mamelodi Sundowns handed victory to Wits University, Orlando Pirates were beaten by Santos, and Ajax beat Cosmos.
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/ 26 January 2008
There is unlikely to be a place in the starting line-up for South Africa hero Elrio van Heerden when they tackle Tunisia in the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday. Van Heerden, who plays for Belgian club Bruges, came off the bench three days ago to score one of the best goals in the biennial tournament.
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/ 23 January 2008
Elrio van Heerden scored two minutes from full-time to salvage a 1-1 draw for South Africa against Angola on Wednesday in another 2008 African Nations Cup Group D thriller. No team arrived in Ghana more desperate to impress than South Africa after descending from champs to chumps in a 12-year freefall.
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/ 14 January 2008
Bafana Bafana earned a pass mark from their 2-0 warm-up win against Mozambique at Chatsworth Stadium on Sunday afternoon and demonstrated sufficient potential to view the coming African Cup of Nations with a degree of optimism.
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/ 4 December 2007
Kaizer Chiefs’s Itumeleng Khune won this year’s awards for goalkeeper and player of the Telkom Knockout Cup at a ceremony held at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on Tuesday. The 23-year-old not only received the trophies for his outstanding performances, but also a whopping R300 000.
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/ 2 December 2007
After a painstaking 120 minutes of meticulous football, Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune emerged the hero as he made three saves in the Telkom Knockout Cup final to give his team another famous cup victory over Mamelodi Sundowns at a packed Loftus Stadium on Saturday night.
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/ 30 November 2007
South Africa have ditched star striker Benni McCarthy for the 2008 African Nations Cup in Ghana. Brazilian coach Carlos Alberto Parreira also dumped first-choice defender Bradley Carnell and midfielders Delron Buckley and Macbeth Sibaya from a 23-man squad named on Friday.
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/ 28 November 2007
Last season Ajax Cape Town beat Mamelodi Sundowns four times under the guidance of Muhsin Ertugral, who also led the young Cape team to an emphatic victory in the Absa Cup, beating none other than Sundowns in the final. This Saturday Ertugral’s Kaizer Chiefs take on Sundowns in the final of the Telkom Knockout Cup.
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/ 21 November 2007
Teko Modise netted twice to give Bafana Bafana a 2-0 win in an international friendly against Canada at the Absa Stadium in Durban on Tuesday. The Orlando Pirates playmaker netted a splendid goal from 20m in the 39th minute and got his second on the stroke of halftime with a well-taken penalty.
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/ 11 November 2007
Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Brian Baloyi was unflappable, stopping numerous goal-scoring attempts from the Free State Stars, as his team won 2-1 in the extreme heat of Kimberley where they played their Telkom Knockout Cup soccer semifinal match.
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/ 7 November 2007
Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has called for common sense to prevail in the quest to build a winning team for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The Brazilian named two squads for games against the United States and Canada — but due to the Premier Soccer League schedule, the local players he selected will arrive late for training.