Sport Matters

Against all odds. . . Dutch forward Memphis Depay overcame a difficult childhood to shine on world stage. One of the unlikely stars of the Netherlands squad at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil is without a doubt winger Memphis Depay. He is used sparingly in the Dutch team, usually coming on as a second half substitute. The reason for that is clear: Depay is still being developed for big things in future. He started playing regularly at his club PSV Eindhoven only from last season. Secondly, he only turned 20 in February this year, so he still needs protected, gradual introduction to the senior national team. And after just eight caps for Oranje, he's doing all-right. Though the factors above are important to note, it is Depay's childhood which is more crucial to mention. He grew up without a father after his Ghanaian immigrant father left the family following divorce from Memphis' mother. Depay refers to this episode in his life by insisting to be called just Memphis, ...

Rare joy. . . Gervinho scored the consolation goal as Ivory Coast lost 2-1 to Colombia on Thursday. The African teams at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil have had a torrid first round, resulting with one of them, Cameroon, getting knocked out after the second wave of matches in Group A. A horribly ill-disciplined and disjointed Cameroon lost 4-0 to a determined Croatia on Wednesday night. The central Africans had lost their opening match 1-0 to Japan, which means they are without points or goals ahead of their last match against Brazil on June 23 in Brasilia. West Africans Ghana and Nigeria also had jittery starts, with Nigeria looking amateurish when drawing 0-0 against outsiders Iran. The Super Eagles have a such to redeem themselves in their remaining two matches. Ghana lost their opener, though their overall showing was far more decent. There's also hope, despite obvious heavy odds against the African teams. Algeria also lost their opener to tournament's darkhorse...

Oh Jimmy. . . Former Chelsea striker Floyd Hasselbaink has joined a beeline of foreign coaches seeking to score the Bafana Bafana post. The question is does he qualify? As the serious football nations prepare for the start of the 2014 World Cup on Thursday, we in South Africa continue taking care of the troubles of our national team, Bafana Bafana. This time they have no coach, and applications are streaming into SA Football Association's offices. Safa,  though they have been exposed to be under-qualified for this task, hold the right to choose. So, for the rest of us we can only amuse ourselves with opinions about some of the confirmed applicants. Pim Verbeek - He's called Pim because he was born Peter Tim (and also Dirk) in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Apart from a largely anonymous stint as a player in the Dutch league, as coach Verbeek has dressed himself in glory largely for being the assistant coach.  Fair enough, he was at the helm when Australia qualified for the ...

The ultimate. . . This old man, who dressed up for the race, feels young at heart running the 90km Comrades Marathon. The 2014 edition runs on Sunday THIS is Comrades Marathon week, as the 2014 edition of the big roadrunning event takes place on Sunday. This fact alone is lost on the imagination of the wider population of the country. Comrades is no longer in the hearts and minds of South Africans, from children to the elderly, as it used to be. Sunday is just three days away and yet the once powerful Comrades spirit is not lingering in the air, and there is hardly any discussion going where people meet, on the radio, social media, nowhere. In the days gone by the discourse around the favourites and the prestige of the race itself would be reaching fever peak these last days ahead of the big day. What went wrong? Perhaps the general mood of our society has changed in the past decade that things which used to be held in high esteem do not matter anymore. Could it be that we are ...

Since the miracle by Simon Magakwe last weekend when he broke SA's 26-year-old 100m record, a sense of believe has been sparked that similar achievements in South Africa could be realised in roadrunning this weekend. The targets are the two course records at the 56km Old Mutual Two Oceans Marathon, which like the old 100m mark, had been up for grabs since the 1980s. The men's record of 3:03:44 (1988) has stood as stoically as the character of its holder, the late Thompson Magawana, while the women's mark of 3:30:36 (1989) is held by the legendary Frith van der Merwe. Two Oceans' 2014 edition on Saturday in Cape Town has additional appetiser of R1million for the winners who set the new course records, and Van der Merwe expressed confidence in a statement on Tuesday that her record could go. She remembers how an incentive of a car spurred her on to a "comfortable" victory 25 years ago. "The car was enough to motivate me, so the R1-millio...

Destroyer. . . Firmin Ndombe Mubele of AS Vita Club scored the hattrick which ended Kaizer Chiefs run in 2014 CAF Champions League. Mubele starred for DR Congo during the CHAN tournament in SA in January. The early fall of Kaizer Chiefs and SuperSport United in 2014 CAF competitions served to highlight the shortcomings of South African football in the international arena. Complaints about referees notwithstanding, we just don't know how to prepare for the game at this level. Orlando Pirates had a brave run last year in the Champions League, losing to Al Ahly in the final. But even then, Pirates were not a dominating force but just managing to scrape through mostly on the away goal rule until the Egyptian giants brought it to an end.  Once again, SA clubs were eliminated early, mostly due to poor preparation. After relatively pleasant trips to Windhoek and Maputo in the earlier rounds of the Championship, Chiefs came unstuck in Kinshasa, losing 0-3 to AS Vita of Congo. Re...

The future. . . Ayabulela Magqwaka, the captain of the SA under-20 team. Why was he not considered for Chan? I suspect even the Safa executive does not know him, but that's how clumsy South Africa has been with football development. His name is Ayabulela Magqwaka. In case you are wondering what's special about this name, he's the national captain for the under-20 team. So what? He led from the front in Lesotho where his team won the Cosafa Youth Cup, beating Kenya 2-0 in the final. Kenya was playing as an invited guest to strengthen the competition. Magqwaka scored one of the goals in the event which took place in December. Subsequent to his exploits in Maseru, a week later his team Ajax Cape Town offered him a contract which promoted him from the team's under-19 squad to the senior team. He was signed with his national teammate, Rivaldo Coetzee, with whom he won various youth titles playing with the Ajax Cape Town Youth Academy. Magqwaka has had a well paved...