Sizzling soccer on the cards
Brad Morgan
4 August 2005
South African soccer fans, having waited patiently for the start of the new season, are in for a flood of exciting fare, with the PSL season getting under way this month along with the SAA Supa 8 competition.
PSL champions Kaizer Chiefs will be hoping that it is a case of third time lucky after being drawn to face Bloemfontein Celtic in the SAA Supa 8 Cup.
The Amakhosi have already come up short in the Vodacom Challenge Cup and the Telkom Charity Cup, and their clash with Celtic will be a repeat of the contest they lost in the Telkom Charity Cup.
Since repeating as PSL champions under Ted Dumitru last season, Chiefs have changed their coach, with Ernst Middendorp taking over from the wily Romanian. And it has been a stuttering start for Chiefs under the German, especially from the point of view of the team's supporters, who expect their side to win every time they play.
Making the slow start more difficult to swallow was that the
champions' arch-rivals Orlando Pirates defeated them to win the Vodacom Challenge Cup.
Supa 8 draw
The Buccaneers have been drawn to face Silver Stars, and like Chiefs they have home ground advantage. Mamelodi Sundowns are home to Ajax Cape Town, and Moroka Swallows face Supersport United in a contest that could go either way. Only two points separated the teams at the end of the PSL season, with Matsatsantsa finishing in front of the Birds.
Mamelodi Sundowns, who along with Pirates are the team most likely to challenge the Amakhosi for the PSL title, claimed the Telkom Charity Cup, and with mining magnate Patrice Motsepe's millions behind them, they could well add to the hat-trick of the PSL titles they won from 1998 to 2000.
They were also in pre-season action in the Peace Cup in South Korea, where they shocked Spanish club Real Sociedad 1-0. In their second outing they fell 3-1 to Tottenham Hotspur when coach Angel Cappa opted to
field an almost new starting eleven. Boca Juniors dumped Downs 3-1 in their final outing.
The advantage Cappa will enjoy from the Brazilians' Asian exploits and the Telkom Charity Cup is that he has had five competitive matches in which to assess his squad.
It is difficult to predict a knockout competition featuring the top eight teams in the league. The safe bet would be to pick one of Sundowns, Chiefs or Pirates, but it should be remembered that Supersport United are the defending champions and also won the Absa Cup – another knockout competition - while finishing runners-up to Chiefs in the Coca Cola Cup, also a knockout competition.
The new PSL season
The PSL gets underway on Wednesday. Last season was, in the minds of many, the best in the history of the league. Chiefs, after trailing Pirates most of the way, clinched the title by two points, with Sundowns, in third, following six points off the pace, which is the equivalent of
two wins.
Opening the season will be Ajax Cape Town and Jomo Cosmos, who clash at the Athlone Stadium in Cape Town.
The Urban Warriors could be a team to watch in the new season, even though coach Gordon Igesund says he doesn't believe they are ready to challenge for the league title yet. There are two good reasons to buy into his argument.
Firstly, Ajax lost a number of players in the off-season and they haven't been able to replace them. Secondly, they're involved in African Champions League competition, in a very difficult group, against former winners Al Ahly, Raja Casablanca, and two-time defending champions Enyimba.
Good showing in Africa
However, they have shown up well in the African Champions League, especially when one considers the quality of the opposition. They have so far drawn 1-1 with Enyimba in Cape Town, drawn 1-1 with Raja in Casablanca, and then fallen 2-0 to Al Ahly away from home.
Last season, Cosmos
were one of the disappointments. They finished fourth from bottom, only four points clear of bottom of the table Wits University. Don't expect that to happen again to Jomo Sono's club.
Much is expected of new signing, Senegalese striker Mamadou Diallo, while former Bafana Bafana star Helman Mkhalele returns to South Africa from Turkey. Zimbabwean star Alois Bunjira, formerly of Wits, should also help steady Cosmos' challenge.
TITLE CHALLENGERS
Kaizer Chiefs open their season away from home when they face Bush Bucks on Saturday 6 August at the Absa Stadium in East London. Coach Ernst Middendorp knows his primary goal is deliver a third successive title to the Amakhosi faithful; the losses in the pre-season competitions will be quickly forgotten should Chiefs find a way to win the league once more.
The biggest question mark the champions face is how to replace ace marksman Collins Mbesuma, who has joined English Premier League
club Portsmouth.
Orlando Pirates begin their season at Ellis Park against Black Leopards. The Buccaneers will have only one thing on their collective minds this season and that is to win the PSL title.
They should have won it last season, but let it slip out of their grasp at the death, and that loss hurt. Pirates previously won the title in 2001 and 2003 and would dearly love to capture it for a third time.
Mamelodi Sundowns appear to have the deepest squad in the PSL. They also have an owner, in Patrice Motsepe, who is to South African football what Roman Abramovich is to English football and Chelsea. He has put in big bucks to assemble a quality squad and now he expects coach Angel Cappa to deliver a championship. Downs open their season away from home against Silver Stars.
Supersport United, led by coach of the year Pitso Mosimane, cannot be underestimated. They captured two knockout cups last year and finished runners-up in another.
They also finished fourth in the league and in the three previous seasons twice finished second, and third on the other occasion. They face Dynamos in a home fixture in their first outing.
Moroka Swallows could be in the hunt for honours. They finished fifth in the PSL last season and have added three strikers who could make a major impact.
Namibian national captain Henrico Botes won both the Player of the Season and Players' Player of the Season in Namibia and netted 26 times. Simba Marumo, a skilful ball-player, joins from Sundowns after an injury-plagued season, and Senegalese striker Mane Niang is a forward target who will give Swallows plenty of height up front.
The Birds start their campaign at the Bidvest Stadium against Santos.
QUESTIONS FOR THE REST
Can Free State Stars make the leap from the Mvela Golden League to the PSL? A recent sponsorship of R15-million over three years from the Bonitas Medical Fund
may prove decisive in helping the team establish a foothold in the league.
Ambitious Black Leopards have turned to Jean-Ives Kerjean to coach the team into the top five. Is it a reasonable target that owner David Thidiela has set the new coach, or will Lidoda Duvha become demoralised if the hoped for progression doesn't happen?
Jomo Cosmos, after two poor seasons in succession, are aiming for the top half of the table again. Will coach Jomo Sono's new signings of experienced players help lift the young talent he has a knack of uncovering?
Silver Stars were probably the biggest surprise package of the previous season when they finished in seventh place. Can they do it again, knowing that the club is very limited financially?
Bloemfontein Celtic will be coached by former Chiefs and Sundowns coach Paul Dolezar. They've been one of the more active teams in the off-season. Can Dolezar help Phunye Sele Sele take the next step up towards
realising their ambitions of becoming one of the big guns?
Bush Bucks finished eleventh last season. Now they've turned to Mlungisi "Professor" Ngubane to help Imbabala become a more competitive team. Is he the answer?
Ajax Cape Town is a nursery for producing good young players. However, they have a very tough season ahead of them, both locally and in Africa. Can coach Gordon Igesund help his youngsters find consistency?
2002 champions Santos managed only twelfth place in 2004/2005. They have a new coach in Roger De Sa, who was at the helm of Wits University when they were relegated last season. Is he the right man for the job?
Golden Arrows have done well with limited resources and have a good coach, who has previously done well at the club, in Khabo Zondo. How, though, given the disparity in financial resources between Arrows and the leading clubs, is Zondo going to move the club up from the ninth position they finished in last
season?
Dynamos ended tenth in 2004/2005. They recently re-signed goalkeeper Arhur Bartman, after it appeared that he would be leaving. They also acquired Bongani Mdluli from Tembisa Classic to strengthen their striking ability, after he scored 12 goals in 12 games.
In addition, Ivan Zwane, the brother of Chiefs' Arthur Zwane, rejoined Dynamos, and former Zulu Royals and Manning Rangers captain Liswe Nduti also signed on. Will it be enough in the increasingly competitive PSL?
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