The Cape Town experience

Saturday saw Cape Town play host to Bafana Bafana's, must win, 2014 World Cup qualifier match against the Central African Republic.Soccer loving capetonians were out in numbers to witness the rarity that is seeing their national team play in the Mother City.

The must win encounter saw Igesand start with a very offensive line-up, with Parker and Rantie leading the attack, the first 20 minutes of the match almost saw Igesand's decision pay off, with Bafana coming agonizing close to scoring on four occasions, but poor finishing left the scoreline at 0-0.With the frontmen unable to convert their chances, the 33rd minute of the game saw defender Thabo Matlaba take matters into his own hands and score an absolute screamer from just inside the opposition half.

Barely Minutes after Matlaba's wonder strike, Bafana's holding midfielder Dean 'mlungu' Furman was forced off the field off play after a clash of heads left the player with a cut above the eye and a bruised nose, Furman was rushed to hospital to receive stitches, but the Bafana camp confirmed that the he had not sustained any serious injury.Kagiso Dikgacoi replaced the injured Furman.The first half ended with the hosts leading 1-0.

The second half started exactly the way the first ended, with South Africa controlling possession and spending prolonged periods in the opposition half, with all that being said the 54th minute played host to controversy when CAR's Romaric Liganzi 'scored' a goal while clearly using his hand to get the ball in the back of the net, the referee Kalyango Ali awarded the goal, which infuriated Bafana captain Itumeleng Khune, khune immediately ran to the linesman and began remonstrating, he was soon joined by his team mates,  and bizarrely and to CAR coach Herve Loungoundji's dismay the goal was 

overturned! Once again African officials are put in the limelight for all the wrong reasons, CAF needs to do some serious introspection which regards to refereeing amongst other things!

Like the first half South Africa created a multitude of chances but poor finishing let them down, they did how ever add to their tally in the 71st minute when Bernard Parker latched on to Siphewe Tshabalala's pass and calmly netted home from inside the box.

The match ended 2-0 much to the pleasure and relieve of Bafana coach Gordon Igesund. 

Let's hope Bafana Bafana enjoyed the Cape Town experience, which saw the 'rainbow nation' out in full force to support our boys in green and gold, and bring more of their matches to the world class Cape Town Stadium.

Hats off to the City of Cape Town's events team for the excellent marketing of the match, which saw just over 38 000 tickets sold for the clash, and incredible feat considering Cape Towns Super Rugby franchise the Stormers were playing at Newlands at the same time.

photo by Matlhoma Morake

      

Now that Benni's gone, who's in the 18 area?

A striker, a goal scorer, a finisher, someone to put the ball in the back of the net, something that's been missing from South African football in recent years. South Africa's inability to score goals has not only seen the country crash out of major tournaments but has more recently also seen them fail to qualify for these tournaments.

South Africa's lack of a goal scorer upfront was most noticeable in this years African Cup of Nations, where the sides top goal scorer was central defender Siyabonga Sangweni, the defender scored two crucial goals, both coming in the group stage of the tournament, which helped Bafana qualify for the quater-finals, where again lack of finishing and poor decision making from their front men saw bafana knocked out by a Seydou Keita lead Mali.

Bafana's current group of strikers, Bernard Parker, Tokelo Rantie, Lehlohonolo Majoro and Dino Ndlovu, aren't known for being prolific goal scorers, however youngsters Rantie(22) and Ndlovu(23) have been in impressing form for their clubs recent times, and with only 13 Bafana caps between the two and long playing careers ahead of them, there's high hopes that they will be the ones to end bafana's goal scoring woes.

The countries failure to produce a quality frontmen has been evident in the Premier Soccer League, in the last 8 seasons the golden boot has been won by a foreign national 5 times (Collins Mbesuma, Chris Katongo, Knowledge Musona, Mame Niang and James Chamanga)!

The last quality striker to come through South Africa's ranks was Cape Town born Benedict "Benni" McCarthy, the centre-forward had stints at several European clubs, most notably FC Porto 

where under the guidance of Jose Mourinho, Benni became the First South African to lift the

UEFA Champions League. 'Benni' also picked up a golden boot award while at Porto and in

2006 the striker left Portugal to play in the Barclays Premier League for then Premier league team

Blackburn Rovers, in his first season for Rovers he scored a staggering 18 league goals

finishing as the second highest scorer in the league that season.

McCarthy has been capped 80 times for Bafana Bafana and is the national teams all time leading

goal scorer with 31 goals.Benni now 35 and heading for retirement, was arguably South Africa's best footballing export and will Undoubtedly go down as a Bafana legend.

So now that Benni's gone, who's gonna fill the void in the 18 area?  

This year Bafana Bafana have played 7 matches and scored a total of 7 goals, conceding only 4, (sounds good so far), however they failed to score in three of those matches, and only won two of the six encounters,drawing three and losing two.

 

bafana bafana's World Cup qualifier squad

Bafana Bafana coach Gordan Igesund made his squad announcement for Bafana's upcoming World Cup qualifier match against the Central African Rebuplic earlier today.

The squad, almost identical to the one Igesund selected for the African Cup of Nations(AFCON) earlier this year, does come with its surprises though.

Bongani Khumalo, who captained Bafana in this years AFCON, has been left out the squad.The defender who plays his football in Greece for PAOK(on-loan from Tottenham Hotspurs),has only started in one match for his club side since Bafana's quater-final exit from the AFCON,lack of game time and the fact that the player is carrying a injury were the reasons Igesund gave for omitting the defender from his squad
  
“He's carrying a slight injury. I've chosen not to choose him on the strength that he has not been playing for his club.”

Other players that haven't made the squad include Ajax Amsterdam midfielder Thulani Serero, Igesund said "I just think Serero has got to do a little bit more for me. He came back from a very difficult injury and when he was in camp for the Afcon, I think he was afraid of getting injured.

“So I need him to get mentally stronger and start playing regularly for his club overseas. Then he will be able to give us 100 percent." Katlego Mphela who turns 29 this year and the injured Lehlohonolo Majoro are the other big names not in the squad.

In form SuperSport United goalkeeper Ronwen Williams was unlucky not to make the 23 man squad, the 21 year old is however going to train with the squad in the week leading up to Bafana's clash with the CAR

Daylon Claasen,Dino Ndlovu and Siyanda Xulu all received call ups and will return to bafana set up, all three players ply their trade oversea's and are earmarked by many to be the future stars of South African Football.

The Bafana squad

Goalkeepers: Itumeleng Khune, Senzo Meyiwa, Wayne Sandilands

Defenders: Morgan Gould, Siyabonga Sangweni, Thabo Nthethe, Anele Ngcongca, Siyanda Xulu, Tsepo Masilela, Thabo Matlaba

Midfielders: Kagisho Dikgacoi, Dean Furman, Reneilwe Letsholonyane, Oupa Manyisa, May Mahlangu, Daylon Claasen, Lerato Chabangu, Thuso Phala, Siphiwe Tshabalala, Daine Klate

Forwards: Bernard Parker, Dino Ndlovu, Tokelo Rantie

Cape Football's ongoing battle

Relegation, a word Cape Town footballing fans have grown accustomed to in recent years.The past two PSL seasons has seen teams from the Cape make the drop to the National First Division,and this season isn't looking any better for the Capetonians.    

Ajax Cape Town and Chippa United are Cape Towns representatives in Premier Soccer League this season.Ajax by far the more experienced and established of the two sides, playing in their 14th PSL season this year,while Chippa on the other hand are playing their first ever season in the top tier of South African Football after gaining amazing back-to-back promotions,first from SAFA's Vodacom 2nd division in 2011 and then the National First Division 2012,its hard to believe the club was only founded in 2010!

The Urban Warriors and the Chilli Boyz as they're more commonly referred to have had a torrid time in the league this season, and as a result both teams find themselves rooted to the bottom of the log, and with only 9 games left of the season things aren't looking up for the Cape based teams.

Only two seasons ago Ajax Cape Town had one hand on the PSL trophy, all they had to do was win their final game of the season,which was played at the beautiful Cape Town satdium and infront of 45 000 ajax fans, but due to some silly defensive errors and a horrendous  goalkeeping blunder from the legendary Hans Vonk the Cape side saw the title slip through their fingers, and since that day the footballing Gods haven't been looking favorably on the 'mighty' Urban Warriors, last season they finished a mediocre 9th in the league, but to be honest Ajax have always been a mediocre team(if stats are anything to go by), and their league form over their past14 seasons in the PSL has been nothing short of erratic!

So why has a team with arguably the best academy system in South Africa and the backing of their namesake in Netherlands never been able to dominate South African football and why do they find themselves in this rather precarious position at the moment? It's baffling that a club that has produced the likes of Steven Pienaar,Thulani serero,Franklin Cale and Sameehg doutie,to name a few, has only ever won three trophies(Telkom knockout 00' and 08',aswell as the Nedbank cup in 07).As a Ajax supporter myself its worrying when year after year my team finishes mid-table,sells their best players and manage to win no silverware.

The backroom staff at Ajax have left me flabbergasted in the last 4 years,partly because since 2009 they've sold their best players and replaced them with below average second-rate players how do you expect to build a title winning squad with this sort of mentality! Franklin Cale,Clayton Daniels,Thulani Serero,Sameehg Doutie,Bryce moon and Daylon claasen  have all left the club in the past 4 years and the club has failed to replace Quality with Quality,instead they head to the bargain basement and find the cheapest replacement in whatever position they need! This has to be one of the main,amongst a host of many other, reasons the team is where they are at the moment.

Ajax have played 20 games this season and only picked up 4 victories,this speaks volumes about the kind of season they're having, you cant fault the players though they've given they're all in their matches they just don't have the depth or quality in their squad to be challenging the top teams in the league,that added to the 'constant' changing of managers is a recipe for disaster,but with 10 games left lets hope they still have few cards up their sleeve.

Chippa united,the new kids on the block, have played 21 games and only managed to pick up a measly 3 victories all season find themselves anchored to the bottom of the log,unsurprisingly to most,with controversial decisions from the clubs hierarchy throughout the season which saw the clubs manager change A gob-smacking 4 times already this season!

The Chilli Boyz' board might have gone wayward with their managerial decisions, but the players they've brought in, in the two transfer windows to ensure they stay in the PSL next season have been top class, bringing in Stanton Lewis,Brent Carelse,Masibuzane Zongo, Mbuleo 'OJ' Mabizela,William Twala and Benjani Mwaruwari!with only 9 games left the Chilli Boyz will have to dig deep and end their season strong if they want any chance of beating the drop

remaing fixtures

AJAX
AmaZulu (H)
Sundowns (A)
Free State Stars (H)
Orlando Pirates (H)
Black Leopards (A)
Bidwest Wits (H)
Chippa United (A)
Kaizer Chiefs (H)
Maritzburg Utd (A)
Golden Arrows (H)

CHIPPA
Maritzburg Utd (A)
Golden Arrows (H)
Supersport Utd (A)
Swallows (H)
Platinum Stars (A)
Ajax (H)
Orlando Pirates (A)
TUKS (H)
AmaZulu (A)

TEAM	P	W	D	L	GS	GA	GD	PTS
KAIZER CHIEFS	22	13	8	1	39	14	25	47
ORLANDO PIRATES	21	12	6	3	28	13	15	42
PLATINUM STARS	21	12	2	7	33	22	11	38
FREE STATE STARS	21	8	8	5	20	17	3	32
BLOEM CELTIC	21	8	5	8	23	23	0	29
BIDVEST WITS	21	7	8	6	21	23	-2	29
SUPERSPORT UNITED	21	5	13	3	22	17	5	28
MARITZBURG UTD	21	7	7	7	21	21	0	28
UNIV. OF PRETORIA FC	21	5	11	5	21	20	1	26
MOROKA SWALLOWS	21	7	4	10	30	33	-3	25
MAMELODI SUNDOWNS	21	5	8	8	16	18	-2	23
GOLDEN ARROWS	21	6	5	10	20	24	-4	23
AMAZULU	21	5	8	8	12	24	-12	23
BLACK LEOPARDS	21	4	8	9	24	35	-11	20
AJAX CAPE TOWN	20	4	6	10	18	32	-14	18
CHIPPA UNITED	21	3	7	11	17	29	-12	16

Metropolitan Cup

it's that time of the year again where Cape town plays host to the annual Metropolitan under 19 Premier Cup(more affectionately known to some as the Bayhill Cup). The tournament is without a doubt South Africa’s most renowned under 19 tournament,each year the event attracts on average 30 000 spectators from all over cape town to witness the young talent on show. 

the tournament has grown in leaps and bounds since its inception in 1989,where the tournament took place in Mitchell's Plain on Rocklands sports grounds,with 16 teams competing over two days.The tournament has gone under immense change since 1989 and today we see 32 of the best under 19 teams in South Africa compete over six days at Belhars' Erica Park.  

Each year the tournament committee receives 100 applications from teams who want to partake in the footballing spectacle,those 100 applicants then go through two playoff stages and of those 100 only 14 teams can qualify for the tournament.The remaining 18 spots are filled by the hosts Bayhill United and teams that have been invited to play in the tournament,mainly PSL teams and Football academies.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the prestigious event,the tournament has been dominated by cape power houses Hellenic and Ajax Cape Town in the past,with Hellenic winning the Cup an outstanding 7 times and the Urban Warriors victorious on 4 occasions.however between 2009 and 2011 the trophy left the Mother City when it was won by Mamelodi Sundowns,Supersport United and Komesho FC(Namibia),but the Cup soon returned to the Cape when underdogs Philippi United(now Chippa United) beat the mighty Orlando Pirates in 2012's edition of the Tournament.

The tournament promises to be as,if not more,enthralling as the 24 before it,so make sure you make your way to Erica Park Belhar between the 27th of march and April 1st to wintness South Africa's next genaration of footballing talent on show.

Group A: Chippa United, Glendene united, RC Athletico FC, Bothasig
Group B: Bayhill United, Milano United, Stars of Africa (Gauteng), Berea Albion

Group C:, University of Pretoria (TUKS), Santos , Evertonians, Masidlale

Group D: Bidvest Wits, Swallows PE, Blue Down Spurs, Immortals Sports Academy

Group E: Ajax Cape Town, Harmony Academy, Atlantis Leeds, Belhar Spurs

Group F: Supersport United, Vasco Da Gama, Cape Town All Stars , Umgunglundlovu FC

Group G: Kaizer Chiefs, Morgenster United, Mpumalanga Black Aces, Hanover Park

Group H: Mamelodi Sundowns, Segra Football Academy (Nigeria), Old Mutual Academy, ASD Cape Town (group of death) 

* favorites to progress out of the group stages in blue

My favourites to win this years tournament :Ajax Cape Town,ASD Cape Town,Chippa United and Milano United(outside chance)

picture courtesy of  metropolitan cup website

 

for more info head to http://www.premiercup-bayhill.co.za/