Indice dei contenuti per September 2021 in Kick Off

When Diego Maradona left Barcelona to join Napoli in July 1984, that was the biggest and perhaps the most unusual transfer news of the year considering that the Italian side were not as big as AC Milan, Inter Milan or Juventus. AC Milan had Franco Baresi, Ray Wilkins and young Paolo Maldini on their books; Juventus had the great Michel Platini and World Cup winner Marco Tardelli, while Inter had Walter Zenga, Giuseppe Bergomi, Liam Brady and German international Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. Napoli, on the other hand, had no great players after the departure of Dutch international Ruud Krol at the end of the 1983/84 season. And the club needed a star that would turn their fortunes around. On July 5, 1984, a crowd of more than 80,000 Neapolitans and journalists…

GOOD MONTH FOR … PITSO MOSIMANE Another CAF Champions League victory under his belt and the Al Ahly squad building nicely for next season with some exciting acquisitions. He will be relishing another shot at the FIFA Club World Cup. BAD MONTH FOR … DAVID NOTOANE The South Africa Under-23 coach was always up against it with injuries, withdrawals and untimely COVID-19 outbreaks, but three tough defeats at the Tokyo Olympics was cruel. The side showed flashes of excellence but were found wanting in Japan. ALSO LAST MONTH… Swallows FC sign veteran left-back Tebogo Langerman from Mamelodi Sundowns, as well as midfielder Keletso Makgalwa. They also bring in former PSL top-scorer Mwape Musonda. AmaZulu confirm they have parted ways with former Bafana Bafana star Siphiwe Tshabalala but do bring in…

Rivaldo Coetzee remains the only professional footballer to come from Kakamas – a farming town nestled in the Northern Cape close to the Namibian border. The only clubs to play in the town feature in the ABC Motsepe League. “There has never been a player from my town who has played professional, with the closest being some guys from Upington, which is just over 80 km away,” Coetzee tells KICK OFF. “Ruben Cloete and Rudiger Gilbert are both from there. am the first so far, but hope not to be the last. So far, I haven’t done anything to help in development, but I have plans and have had chats with local boys that have talent to get into professional football. “I obviously need to give back so that we better than me.”…

If he took a stroll through a busy mall in Johannesburg, Pretoria or Polokwane, Masilo Modubi’s presence would be devoid of fanfare as many a selfie seeker may not be familiar with the status of the erstwhile South African international. And yet the former midfielder shared a dressing room with the likes Itumeleng Khune, Bernard Parker, Daine Klate, Tsepo Masilela, Lerato Chabangu and Lebogang Mokoena, men whose fame makes it hard for football lovers to ignore. While some of his national Under-23 teammates, who attempted to qualify South Africa for the 2008 Olympics under Steve Komphela, made names for themselves in the PSL, Modubi was out pursuing his career in Europe. “Actually, I never wanted to be famous,” he says. “I just loved football and I wanted it to take…

We will always cherish Katsande We’ll forever cherish the time we, Kaizer Chiefs, had with Willard Katsande. We shouldn’t kick the man while is down but be grateful for Katsande’s glittering career at Chiefs. His departure was imminent – looking at the game time a player of his calibre had last season. He took a brave decision by declining a contract extension. However, I felt like he was sacrificed to force his hand to come to the decision. Katsande was the core and heart of Chiefs success that transformed its fortunes over the past decade. He left behind an indelible legacy that everyone could be proud of, and we will cherish his time with us. He joins several great players to wear the famous Chiefs colours. There will never be another…

The community of Westbury has always taken pride in their own, having produced probably one of the best that the country has ever had in Steven Pienaar. Pienaar played for the now defunct amateur club Westbury Arsenal, the same team where Keagan Dolly started as a six-year-old. In returning to play locally, Dolly will be watched closely by plenty of those that knew him from when he was starting in Primary School. “Keagan was always a talented kid and I’m happy for him. I cannot wish him anything bad because I never expected anything in return,” says Isaac ‘Uncle Ice’ de Jong, who ran amateur club Westbury Arsenal prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. “Keagan had an uncle [Imraan Dolly] who was hands on with the boy from an early age and instrumental…

Future of Free State football We, as Free State citizens and passionate football lovers, are very worried about the state of the game in our province. We’re likely to be left without a DStv Premiership representative from next season if Bloemfontein Celtic go down. In the 1980s, the Free State used to be represented by two credible and competent clubs – Celtic and Welkom Real Hearts. After the relegation of Free State Stars from the Premiership, the province is pinning their hopes on Celtic, whose future is uncertain as they’ve been banned from signing new players. Celtic have been struggling financially since the club was taken over by a local businessman, Max Tshabalala. They lost their MTN sponsorship after alleged mismanagement was discovered at the club. Last season they were slapped…

Named after retired Brazilian star Rivaldo – Coetzee has always been aware of the weight that his name carries since he was a kid. Though the Brazilian was a left-footer who played in advanced positions, reaching his best at AC Milan and Barcelona, Coetzee still feels he can only hope to emulate a bit of what the older Rivaldo did. “No. Not yet,” he responds when asked if he feels he is living up to his name. “I was obviously named after the Brazilian and I came to know of that from Primary School because my father’s friends used to make fun of the name. “Before I went to Ajax people used to make fun of the fact that my name is Rivaldo, yet I am a defender instead of…

AZOLA TSHOBENI (19) The teenager has already had a taste of first team football from last season and will be keen to build on from last season. He functions in the attacking spaces in midfield. “He was recommended to me by someone from the East Rand. This guy’s son played for my academy, and he brought Azola as well as another player and I took all of them in without hesitation. When a good player is brought in, we take them. He is a good player,” says Augusto Palacios. THABISO SESANE (20) Sesane has looked a good bet for the future in the games that he has played since coming through from the reserve team. He will grow further if he gets to gets into the match day squad more…

In international football, Katlego Mphela will always be remembered or the free-kick he scored against Spain’s Iker Casillas during the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup. The ormer striker achieved a lot on the domestic scene where he played or Jomo Cosmos, SuperSport United, Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs. This month he picks his Dream Team and puts himself on bench. 1 Goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune I’ve played with many great goalkeepers throughout my career, but Itumeleng is the one who made me score goals. His distribution is second to none – he would pick up the ball and hit it straight behind the defenders and as a striker I made sure that I was at the right place at the right time. There were two or three situations where I came one-on-one…

JEROEN LUMU A Dutch-born right winger who has DR Congo heritage, the 26-year-old previously played for Floriana in Malta last season. It was a fourth club since the start of 2019 for the much-travelled midfielder, who has also turned out for teams in the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Austria, Turkey, India, Romania, Portugal and Georgia. It is an incredible list of destinations for a player his age and suggests he does not stick around for long. SIBUSISO KHUMALO The former Mamelodi Sundowns defensive midfielder is back in South Africa after a spell with Equatorial Guinea side Futuro Kings. He had been without a team after leaving Sundowns in July 2019, from where he had spells on loan at Maritzburg United, Jomo Cosmos and BidVest Wits. A product of the youth system at Swallows FC,…

KICK OFF: You were at Bidvest Wits looking for first-team football and stability after leaving Kaizer Chiefs. What went through your mind when you were informed the club was sold? Lorenzo Gordinho: It was difficult because I had just arrived at Wits. I got there in January 2020 and with the whole lockdown I only played three months of football for the club, and then it was sold. So, it was a bit difficult because I was thinking that I have this stability in my life for the duration of the contract and then it gets sold. But at the time I thought maybe it’s another opportunity to do something else and find another path in my career, and I was grateful that this opportunity [to join Viborg] came up…

In 1998, the last year before the amalgamation of Cape Town Spurs and Seven Stars to form Ajax Cape Town; a teenage forward ran out for his debut in the colours of Spurs against Vaal Professionals, playing with the enthusiasm that came with his age. He was a 17-year-old named Shaun Permall, who had earlier on in that week done duty for Portland High School as a striker, alternating with playing in Spurs’ junior teams. That 1998/99 season was when he made his debut and rubbed shoulders with Craig Rosslee, David Kannemeyer, Matthew Booth, David Modise, the late Edzai Kasinauyo, Theo Hempe, Manni Rodrigues, Epangala Lokose, Ian Gorowa and Moomba Ngandu, among others. It was rather surprising that a kid who was considered not good enough through early teenage years…

35 Lionel Messi won 35 titles with Barcelona before his transfer to Paris Saint-Germain in France’s Ligue 1. These are 10 LaLiga titles; 7 Copa del Rey; 8 Spanish Cup; 4 UEFA Champions League; 3 UEFA Super Cups and 3 FIFA Club World Cup. 3 Despite his success at club level, the Argentine has only won three trophies with his national team. The 2005 FIFA Under-20 World Cup; 2008 Olympic gold medal and the 2021 Copa America. He has also been a runner up four times: at the 2014 FIFA World Cup; 2007, 2015 and 2016 Copa America. 6 The 34-year-old has won the FIFA Ballon d’Ór a record six times: in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2019. He has been nominated 12 times for the award. 21 During…

Let’s look at the question of Keagan Dolly first. I strongly believe that it’s not his fault for wanting to leave Europe and come back to the PSL because who wanted him in Europe? No clubs showed interest in him. He only played a few games in three years for Montpellier in France and that is not going to get you offers in Europe. I don’t know what were other circumstances outside football which led to him wanting to come back to the PSL but considering all the offers he was getting, I think Kaizer Chiefs were the best option him. Maybe Dolly was also thinking about keeping his chances of going to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar alive because that is how some players think. When you look…