Inhaltsverzeichnis für December 2020 in Kick Off

In the first two matches that Terrence Dzvukamanja played for BidVest Wits after signing from Zimbabwean club Ngezi Platinum two-and-a-half years ago, he had an assist on debut and then scored one and created another in his second match against Kaizer Chiefs. In announcing his arrival at his new club Orlando Pirates this season, he scored on debut and then came up with an assist a fortnight later in a match where Chiefs were again the opponents. Dzvukamanja has always had a big match temperament from the time he played in the amateur ranks at Makwiro FC, through to when he joined Ngezi while they were still a third-tier league club and twice won promotion with them to the Zimbabwe Premier League. “Terrence seems to have a small body but…

KICK OFF: From the Kermit Erasmus that we saw making his PSL debut as a 17-year-old back in December 2007 at SuperSport United, how do you feel about the way your career has panned out since then? Kermit Erasmus: [Laughing] The football is just what I do [as a job]. But there is more to me than just football. I don’t look at it as something special. Yes, I thought about it the other day that I am one of the players that have enjoyed the privilege of making football my career, so I am grateful. Besides that, I am just this ordinary guy who is doing what he likes doing and has made a career out of it. I come out of a humble family where I was always…

Being the local boy who now is hero worshipped for what he has achieved at Kaizer Chiefs since making his first team debut way back in 2007, it is understandable why some feel Itumeleng Khune should be guaranteed of his place in goals. He has done it all for Chiefs, be it lifting multiple trophies, carrying the club on his shoulders, captaining the team and earning the respect that he now commands in domestic football. However, he has battled with injuries in the last few years, something which has forced the club to search for reliable options for when he is on the treatment table. That was the reason why the AmaKhosi went for Nigerian goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi at the beginning of last year. He was a signing who divided…

Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila’s (TTM) entrance into the DSTV Premiership after buying the status of BidVest Wits and relocating the club to Limpopo was greeted with shock and dismay as it ended 99 years of history at the country’s oldest club. But buying franchises to move up the South African football pyramid is what TTM have been doing since their formation in the village of Tshakhuma in Limpopo in 2015. To get into structured football, TTM first bought the SAB League (fourth tier) status of Peace Lovers, who had just been promoted from the amateur ranks but weren’t financially healthy enough to sustain themselves. After just a season in the SAB League, TTM then purchased crisis-laden Zero Fake FC from Giyani for their ABC Motsepe League status. In the ABC Motsepe…

KICKOFF: Your father Allan Norman was the owner of former GladAfrica Championship side Maccabi FC until their status was sold to Swallows FC at the start of the 2019-20 season. You obviously come from a family with a passion for football then… Brad Norman: I was born into a sporting family, my Dad had a passion for soccer, so I grew up watching the [English] Premier League. And then he obviously got involved in soccer later on when he was the owner of Maccabi FC. He was also my coach at Old Eds [Old Edwardians Football Club in Johannesburg], so he has always been involved in my soccer. I started there around the age of five, and we actually had a really good team. We ended up going to the…

Hunt not known for champagne football First of all, to be clear, I support Kaizer Chiefs. However, when I saw the club sack Ernst Middendorp, to say I was shocked is an understatement! To say I was surprised when the club then appointed Gavin Hunt… I was surprised even further! Here’s why. Hunt, a proven title-winning coach is not known for his ‘champagne’ football. Hunt is a results driven coach, long ball, with wide players etc – in my view, this is more important than the type of football you play. This is where I find the appointment of Hunt puzzling. Yes, he is an extremely successful coach who won the league at Wits on a smaller budget, but is he the coach to win with ‘style’ as some Chiefs…

Walter Da Silva September 1996-February 1997 P19 W10 D7 L2 GF30 GA9 A surprise choice after the axing of Jeff Butler, even though a perennial figure in South African football, who played for Highlands Powerlines and coached Mamelodi Sundowns, Moroka Swallows and Orlando Pirates. Da Silva began with a BoB Save Super Bowl win over Swallows in October 1996. In 16 league games in charge, he lost just once – to Orlando Pirates. There was also another derby defeat in the cup semi-final when Jerry Sikhosana got a hattrick in a 4-1 hiding. That turned the fans against him and in February 1997 he was shown the door. Wellington Manyathi March-June 1997 P14 W6 D5 L3 GF21 GA15 The ex-Chiefs midfield hard man Manyathi was chosen to complete the season,…

Having played for one of the most successful Kaizer Chiefs eams this century and helped hem win numerous League itles and cup trophies, former defender Tefu Mashamaite is one of the most underrated players of his generation. The 36-year-old did win PSL Footballer of Season, Players’ Player of the Season and Defender of the Season though, and has also had a stint in Sweden. He picks his Dream Team of players he has shared a pitch with. 1 Goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune Undoubtedly Itu is the best goalkeeper I have ever played with and I’m sure that most people will agree with me. We were together at Kaizer Chiefs and won two league titles. He has achieved a lot and it was a privilege and honour to share the field with…

GOOD MONTH FOR… BONGANI ZUNGU Zungu’s dream of a move to Glasgow Rangers in the Scottish Premiership has turned into a reality and he will now work with former midfield maestro Steven Gerrard, who is the manager at Ibrox. That can only be good for his game, as is the fact that the league is closely watched by English Premiership clubs BAD MONTH FOR… MARITZBURG UNITED Four defeats in four games in all competitions at the start of the new season extends a run of 10 matches without a win, seven of which have been lost. Can coach Eric Tinkler turn things around for The Team of Choice? ALSO LAST MONTH… • Steve Komphela moves from the head coach role at Lamontville Golden Arrows to a new ‘senior coach’ position…

PREMIER SOCCER LEAGUE ALL-TIME TABLE (As at 20/11/2020) The ever-presents Just four teams have played in every season of the PSL and so can rightly take their place as ever-presents of the competition. The Soweto giants Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates have never been relegated, while the Tshwane pair of Mamelodi Sundowns and SuperSport United are the other two. With each having played three games this season, it also means they head the list of most matches played, having now been involved in 747 fixtures. The greatest winners Sundowns are undisputedly the kings of the PSL. Not only do they have the most titles with 10, compared to the four of nearest rivals Chiefs and Pirates, but they have also won the most games (387) and have the best win…

Musa Nyatama was introduced to PSL football 13 years ago, making his bow away at Kaizer Chiefs just a few weeks after he had been snapped up by Thanda Royal Zulu midway through the 2007/08 season. No-one would have imagined that this was a 20-year-old debutant as he bossed the midfield, standing up to Thabo Mooki until the legendary midfielder was pulled from the game after an hour. Thanda won the match 1-0, with Nyatama playing 90 minutes in a midfield four that also featured Bennett Mnguni, July Mahlangu and Emanuel ‘Scara’ Ngobese. By the end of his first month in professional football, in February 2008, he had played four games in a row from start to finish, sending a clear signal about his potential. Fast forward to the end…

It was the weekend Mike Weaver fractured two knuckles and the thumb of his right hand but still knocked out Gerrie Coetzee in the 13th round at Sun City to retain his world heavyweight crown. In 1980, as Apartheid’s stranglehold on the country was iron-fisted, a Black man bashing an Afrikaaner in his backyard brought people out onto the streets of the townships to celebrate. But if it was punches you were looking for, there were as many thrown and successfully delivered at the Orlando Stadium as Kaizer Chiefs and Moroka Swallows went head-to-head in cup action in late October 1980 on the same day as the Sun City spectacle. “It was a measure of Soweto’s interest in the weekend’s Mainstay Cup semifinals that the world heavyweight boxing fight at…

When striker James Chamanga decided to return home to Zambia in 2019 with the intention of continuing with his playing career after close to a dozen years in China, he was ridiculed as being finished and way too old. He was also counting down to his 40th birthday and had not played football for a year. In fact, he spent the last six months of his time in China working as a technical director, a position that he had to relinquish as he didn’t have the minimum UEFA C licence qualification. It was Zambian Air Force club Red Arrows who brought him back home, and at the end of his first season, Chamanga was the league’s top scorer with 16 goals as modest Arrows finished in 10th position. Now the…

Erling Håland Club: Borussia Dortmund (Germany) Nationality: Norway Position: Forward DOB: 21 July, 2000 Boasting a lethal combination of pace, power and precision, Erling Håland has all the tools to become the next big thing in world football. The Borussia Dortmund star, who is the son of former Leeds United defender Alf-Inge Håland, started his career with Bryne and Molde in his homeland before bursting onto the scene with Austrian giants Red Bull Salzburg in 2018. There, he scored an incredible 29 goals in 27 appearances, including eight in six UEFA Champions League matches, which earned him a €20-million (R384 million) move to Dortmund in January. The 1.94m tall striker has since been compared to Zlatan Ibrahimovi? due to their similar stature and shared proficiency in front of goal and,…