Kick Off February 2022

Arsenal legend Ian Wright summed it up nicely when he said: “Is there ever a tournament more disrespected than the Africa Cup of Nations? There is no greater honour as a sportsperson than representing your nation. The [Afcon] coverage is completely tinged with racism. We play our Euros across 10 nations in the middle of a pandemic and there is no issue. But Cameroon, a single country, hosting the tournament is a problem.” Wright couldn’t have said it better. Before the Afcon kicked off in Cameroon recently, European-based players were constantly asked if they will be representing their African countries in Cameroon. And all these questions and doubts were never raised during the Euro 2020 tournament where players, fans and match officials were required to travel across different countries. The…

Quality of our league Once upon a time we had 18 teams in our top league. Orlando Pirates went on to win what is today known as the CAF Champions league in 1995 after FIFA readmitted South Africa to international football. Bafana Bafana went on to lift the Africa Cup of Nations the following year. Our teams were producing top quality players in abundance. We had players in all the major leagues in Europe – Italy, Greece, Germany, Spain, England, Turkey, etc. Then we decided that we needed more cup football. When we were confronted with fixture congestion, we dropped the number of clubs to 16 in the top tier league and increase the number of foreign-born players who could be fielded by one team at a time from three…

GOOD MONTH FOR… BONGOKUHLE HLONGWANE The 21-year-old Bafana Bafana striker signs a three-year contract with Major League Soccer side Minnesota United, the start of what could be a long overseas career. BAD MONTH FOR… PREMIER SOCCER LEAGUE Whatever you may believe about whether Kaizer Chiefs should have been made to forfeit their league games against Golden Arrows and Cape Town City due to COVID-19, the way the matter was handled by the PSL was another sign of diminishing standards within the organisation. ALSO LAST MONTH… • Mamelodi Sundowns complete the signing of Cape Town City winger Surprise Ralani, ending months in pursuit of the player.• AmaZulu become the first team to beat Mamelodi Sundowns this season with a 1-0 victory in the DStv Premiership on December 20.• TS Galaxy sign…

Just a single goal into the New Year from three of the foreign strikers employed to find the back of the net at Kaizer Chiefs doesn’t provide the kind of confidence needed for a club that hasn’t won a trophy for a very long time. These are the facts facing Serbian forward Samir Nurkovic, Colombian striker Leonardo Castro and Zambian hitman Lazarous Kambole ahead of the expiry of their contracts at the end of June. From the highs of his first season, when he reached double numbers and persuaded the club to offer him an improved deal, Nurkovic has no goals this term from the five appearances he managed before an injury that required surgery. Castro started off the campaign needing medical attention and had not given the club any…

Where Pirates came from and how they got their name It was at the suggestion of goalkeeper James ‘Hitler’Sobi that the team took the name Pirates, and the colours and crest of skull and crossbones that exist today have their origins from the 1940 movie ‘Sea Hawk’. It was the blockbuster of its time, starring matinee idol Errol Flynn and earning four Oscar nominations. The members of the Orlando Boys Club were captivated, like audiences worldwide. The genesis of Pirates was a collection of schoolboys who came together to form a team under the auspices of the Orlando Boys Club. It was place where teenagers from schools across the burgeoning Soweto came together to play table tennis, lift weights and box. But they did not have a football side and…

The 2015 edition of the COSAFA Cup will remain the proudest moment for Namibian football as it marked their first and only international trophy as they lifted the regional competition against all odds. On that famous day for The Brave Warriors, their starting eleven was made up of players who were already playing in South Africa or would then go on to play in the neighbouring country, including Virgil Vries, Denzil Haoseb, Willem Mwedihanga, Chris Katjiukua, Ananias Gebhardt, Ronald Ketjijere, Petrus Shitembi, Deon Hotto, Benson Shilongo and Wangu Gome. Taking notes from the stands at the tournament held in the North West province had been Allan Freese as he plotted the way forward for Highlands Park. He found himself instantly attracted to the liveliness of a Namibian wearing jersey number…