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Nigerians pay the price for ignoring their own league

Earlier this year, Nigerian media, commentators, and football followers erupted in outrage following the March 25 World Cup qualifier in Uyo, where the Super Eagles were held to a 1-1 draw by Zimbabwe. On paper, it should have been an easy assignment. Nigeria’s squad, stacked with stars from Europe’s top leagues, was expected to sweep aside a Zimbabwean side traditionally considered lightweight. Yet the Warriors who arrived in Uyo were far from the Zimbabwe of old. The southern Africans had undergone a quiet transformation, with several players now plying their trade in big European leagues. Zimbabwe has also borrowed from West Africans by pursuing diaspora kids for its national team. The outpouring of anger in Nigeria was not surprising, given the country’s unmatched passion for football. But in hindsight, the fury was misplaced. The ongoing African Nations Championship (CHAN), currently being staged in East Africa, has brutally exposed where Nigeria’s real weakness lies. Unlike the ...
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Ambitious Pyramids rank as Pirates' most important foe so far this CAF season

For decades, the Egyptian league had been dominated by Cairo giants Al Ahly and Zamalek football clubs, with some limited challenge offered by Ismaily and Arab Contractors. Both Ismaily and Arab Contractors had significantly receded in the past decade, with the Contractors (now preferring to be known as Al Mokawloon Al Arab) losing their premier league status as they currently campaign in the Egyptian second-tier. Despite their fallen fortunes, the Contractors and Ismaily remain among five other clubs to win the Egyptian league apart from Al Ahly and Zamalek. Amid these events Pyramids FC emerged in 2018 to forcefully stake a claim in the top 3 of the Egyptian league. The club was in fact formed in 2008 as Al Assiouty Sport in Beni Suef, a city 120km south of Cairo. In 2018, a season after the club had returned to premier for its second stint, it was bought by the chairman of the Saudi Sports Authority Turki Al-Sheikh, renamed Pyramids and relocated to New Cairo, a modern metropolit...
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Broos returns respect and the swag to Bafana

When Hugo Broos was announced in May 2021 as the new manager of the South African national football team, the news was received by sneers and jeers if not completely ignored by some of those it affected the most - the SA soccer fraternity. At the time Bafana Bafana, the national team, had not long been labelled a "bunch of losers" by the sports minister Fikile Mbalula. His words cut like a blunt knife, even though the truth is that Bafana were at the time hopeless and lacked confidence. It was fair-game for anyone, including the lowest-ranked nations, to meet Bafana because the chances of scoring a victory over the SA team were real and attainable. So, more than the sports minister, the nation was despondent over Bafana circumstances. Even Broos appointment, despite his known success on the continent, was slammed as that of an old man chasing an easy retirement fund. It was a tough job from the start for the Belgian - having to rouse the players from a comatose of low sel...
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The enemy within at Kaizer Chiefs

The new Premier Soccer League in South Africa is in its third week and already there's trouble at one of the biggest clubs, Kaizer Chiefs. The upheaval stems from within, thanks to the club's restless supporters. Restless is an understatement to describe a largely belligerent horde ready to trash and clobber, as they showed once again at Mbombela on Sunday 20 August after losing to TS Galaxy. Chiefs are not winning matches because they are goal-shy, scoring just 1 goal in their opening three matches of the league. That is not the scoring rate to win football matches. But instead of directing their anger to the team's forwards, and to some extent the rest of the outfield players, the supporters are blaming the coach and the goalkeeper. Chiefs No 1 keeper Brandon Peterson is a having a torrid time from the fans, despite his form saving the team from serious embarassment game after game. Against Galaxy last week a stopped four certain goal attempts, and earlier in the month...
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No disgrace as Sekhukhune look forward to CAF

It was heartbreak all-round as Sekhukhune United lost in their maiden cup final in their short spell in the South African Premier League on Saturday. Eventual winners of the 2003 Nedbank Cup Orlando Pirates were runaway favourites ahead of the showdown at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. Despite that glorified tag, Pirates knew they were not going to have it that easy against the hugely improved Limpopo side, and they did struggle at Loftus before eventually running out 2-1 winners deep in injury time. Pirates also had to force a 1-1 draw at the break, via a late equaliser from the spot by Tapelo Xoki after a bizarre concession of a penalty by Victor Letsoalo. The experienced forward had been lying on the ground in his own penalty box, with Pirates forward Thembinkosi Lorch teasing him with the ball until Letsoalo stretched out his hand to pull back the ball. It was one of those ridiculous moments in football. Anyway, overall Sekhukhune gave it their all, giving Pirates and their majorit...
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South African teams fight lonely battles abroad and home

On May 10, South African football was represented in two international fixtures and got a lashing in both. In the first match, South Africa's premier league team Marumo Gallants lost 2-0 to Tanzania's Young Africans FC in the CAF Confederation Cup. The quarterfinal tie was played in a packed Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium in Dar es Salaam. In the other match, South Africa lost 5-0 to Senegal in the quarterfinals of the CAF Under-17 Championship currently on Algeria. While the national's team fate in the tournament is sealed, not only via a heavy defeat but with heavier reality that the country has failed in its quest to qualify for the Fifa U17 World Cup, Marumo still has another day to fight. On May 17, the Limpopo-based side will host Young Africans for the second leg of their semifinal clash at Royal Bafokeng in Rustenburg, North West province. What Marumo need is to win 2-0 on the day to force the fixture to penalties or end 90 minute with a 3-0 score in their favo...
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Sports open grand opportunities for girls

Magangeni Primary School in Malamulele, Limpopo, is a rural school with not so much to write about in terms of rescources and facilities. The school is well run and taken care of by its management, a fact which should be the standard for all schools. However, for a rural school in a community where girls come against great odds to get ahead in life, Magangeni has been doing great over the years. In November 2018, then 13-year-old Hlulani Baloyi was in the news for having earnt the right to represent South Africa in the spelling competition in Kenya. The following year a teacher from Magangeni, Florence Bekwa, received an award at the National Teachers’ Awards. In 2020 Bekwa clinched another national gong, with a brand new car as part of her prizes, for winning the excellence in primary school teaching prize award. Other female teachers at Magangeni Primary also excelled in the national teaching awards in 2015 and 2016. In 2021, a former Magangani pupil and agriculture academic, Hl...
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