Kick Off August 2021

In South Africa, professional football players earn a decent amount of money but unfortunately for most not enough to retire comfortably and never have to look for work again. In fact, the majority of players don’t even officially retire – they spend the remaining years of their careers bouncing around from club to club attending trials before eventually giving up when they can’t find suitors. In South African football it’s hard to voluntary retire when you have bills to pay and that is why players have to look for permanent employment in order to continue to provide for their families. And even those playing for the so-called big clubs like Mamelodi Sundowns, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates do not retire rich like European players playing in top leagues such as…

MESSI & RONALDO’S SPECIAL DAY The world is so lucky and blessed to witness the two great players, namely CR7 [Cristiano Ronaldo] and [Lionel|Messi. It’s really not common to have two of the best ever players in world football around at the same time. The football Gods have now answered Messi with his Copa America win. Remember CR7 won his first international title in 10 July, 2016 and Messi on 10 July, 2021. So that the 10th is always blessed! By Danny Moreo, Segakwana village, Moruleng BAXTER’S APPOINTMENT I would like to be educated on the seriousness of the comments made by Stuart Baxter which led to him losing his job in India. How are they different to those made by Luc Eymael, which led to him not been able…

The appointment of former Mamelodi Sundowns president Dr Patrice Motsepe as Confederation of African Football president will usher in a new era of stability, transparency and accountability. Some of the football journalists cast doubt about Dr Motsepe’s 10-point plan when he canvassed for this position. But in my book, Dr Motsepe is the man who can bring an end to the highly publicized corruption scandals by his predecessors in CAF headquarters, Cairo. Dr Motsepe will not stand for previous nonsense that put African football in the pit it’s in. Motsepe is currently struggling to clear debts and court cases facing the federation. It’s a challenge for him to get sponsorships for different projects he intends introducing due to lack of integrity in the confederation. I’m confident Dr Motsepe won’t put…

GOOD MONTH FOR… LIONEL MESSI Barcelona star Lionel Messi got to celebrate Copa America success after he finally broke his international trophy drought with Argentina by beating hosts Brazil in the final. BAD MONTH FOR… ENGLAND The Euro 2020 tournament was perhaps England’s best chance for a long while of ending their 55-year wait for a major international trophy with five of their six games played at home, including the final against Italy. But they blew it to lose 3-2 on spot-kicks after a 1-1 draw. It didn’t come ‘home’, but instead went to Rome. ALSO LAST MONTH… • Gavin Hunt is unveiled as the new coach of Chippa United, with Roy Limongelli installed as Technical Director. The pair worked together previously at BidVest Wits. • Cape Town City confirm…

Divine Lunga In the years when Divine Lunga was a Primary School kid, he was a striker who always found a way to score goals and off the field also had plans to find solutions leading to him being nicknamed ‘MacGyver’ – an action hero who could fix anything from the American action series of the same name. Now having joined Mamelodi Sundowns he must find a way of breaking into the starting XI and get to play as much football as he did in the three years that he spent at Golden Arrows. “He should be able to play at Sundowns because there is no reason for him to fear competition. I trust that he will get to play,” says former Maritzburg United left-back Khumbulani Banda. Banda and Lunga…

The contrasting displays of Kaizer Chiefs last season left a bitter-sweet taste in the mouth for many rallying behind the men in black and gold. The season had all the ingredients of a club of big stature – controversy, inconsistencies, elements of surprise and questionable performances, as Amakhosi subjected their followers to a variety of emotions. Anxiety, anger, panic, ecstasy, fear, relief and joy were all in the feast that Chiefs dished out in a season where they soared to greater heights in continental football, while enduring a barren campaign on the domestic front. A disappointing season saw the AmaKhosi make a top eight finish through the eye of the needle on the last day of the season. Many questions were raised about their performances on the pitch and in…