Table of contents for January 2021 in Kick Off

In December 2012 I was assigned to do an interview with the newly-appointed Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane, who was in Cape Town with his team for a midweek match against Ajax Cape Town. And after a lacklustre, boring draw, we left the Athlone Stadium just after 22h00 for Newlands, where the Sundowns team were camping and the interview was going to take place. After waiting for almost two hours at the reception, finally after midnight, Mosimane majestically strolled down the stairs of the Holiday Inn with a pen and a notepad in his hand, like The Count of Monte Cristo plotting his next revenge “Look at how many times Anthony Laffor had the ball and gave it away. Look at Alje Schut. Look at this player and that one……

The iconic picture of the 1996 Nations Cup win is Neil Tovey, standing on the winners’ podium, holding the trophy above his head, yelling with delight while Nelson Mandela stands next to him pumping his fists, his face beaming with pleasure. Tovey is wearing the white shirt of opponents Tunisia, having swapped directly after the final whistle. It is something that would not happen these days, in an era where marketing types choreograph the trophy ceremonies to a standard that has become the norm. The swapping of jerseys is now restricted to after the award ceremonies to avoid pictures like that of Tovey in the wrong jersey. “If you ask me, I’d never do it again. But in those days, swapping jerseys in the heat of the moment was the thing…

Former Jomo Cosmos midfielder Brian Sebapole was the first to work with him before his teenage years in a Matlosana Local Municipality sports development programme. “At that age I could already tell that he is destined for something in football if given the opportunity,” recalls Sabapole. “His ball control, vision and work rate as a kid was already amazing. Kids always have all the energy in the world but with him he was doing box-to-box moves which was incredible. “It got to a point that I decided to go to his home to meet his parents because he was staying a bit far from where we were training. I told his parents that this boy has so much potential that he can go far, so I am not surprised that…

Just over a year after being cast out by SuperSport United with only six PSL appearances to his name, Cape Town-born striker Darren Smith has become one of the most talked about strikers in Finland. The 24-year-old made the move abroad in January after falling out of favour at Matsatsantsa and signed a season-long deal with second-tier side Ekenäs IF. He marked his debut season in prolific fashion after netting 18 goals in just 22 league appearances, winning the league’s Golden Boot, Best Player and Best Striker of the Season awards in the process. “It feels really good and I think any striker would feel extremely proud and happy with such an award,” Smith reflects upon winning the coveted prize. “It was always one of my goals for the season…

Local coaches on the rise It is with a great sense of pride and joy that I write in celebration of local coaches. In retrospect, there has been a considerable level of reluctance from PSL bosses in hiring local coaches, with even Kaizer Chiefs boss Kaizer Motaung asserting at some point that no local coach can lead his team. However, Pitso Mosimane’s appointment as coach of Al Ahly has, to some degree, led to renewed optimism and confidence in local coaches. Such proof lies in the overwhelming number of local coaches and their respective assistants leading PSL teams this season, in addition to those in the GladAfrica Championship. Not forgetting those who represent us beyond the borders, the likes of Quinton Fortune at Manchester United, Bradley Carnell in USA, Thabo…

The last time that Kaizer Chiefs were able to make signings they brought in six players – Lazarous Kambole, Teddy Akumu, James Kotei, Kearyn Baccus, Samir Nurkovic and Yagan Sasman. Kambole hasn’t done anything to justify why he was signed from ZESCO United with just a single goal in his first 19 appearances for the club. The Zambian will have to pull up his socks this season. Akumu was also brought in at the beginning of 2020 from ZESCO and is yet to genuinely impose himself at the club in the holding midfield position. Just why Kotei was signed remains a mystery as he didn’t play a single game in the six months that he spent at Naturena. With regards to Baccus, he hasn’t done anything special and has sunk…

WAYNE SANDILANDS (37) The veteran goalkeeper is now into his fourth year at Pirates after joining from Mamelodi Sundowns where he had fallen down the pecking order. Sandilands spent last season as the first choice, playing 30 games and missing just four in all competitions It was a step up for a keeper who had played less games than he missed in his first two seasons when he had a combined total of 29 appearances. His experience, workmanship, honesty, principled mannerism, and professionalism remains a key factor in the dressing room as he always genuinely gives his best, even on occasions when his ‘best is not enough’. At 37, his age was obviously part reason to why Pirates found reason to spend on bringing another pair of hands 10 years…

Lehlohonolo Majoro is saddened that he has only won 11 Bafana Bafana caps through his professional career. He has never played a game from start to finish in national team colours. “I’m very disappointed with the way my international career has been. The number of caps that I have doesn’t tally with the call-ups that I have had. I have had a lot of call-ups and was not given a chance to play. “There were a lot of things said about me in Bafana and there were certain things that certain people said about me. I won’t mention names but I’m not happy about how it turned out. “It got to a point when I said I’m not even looking forward to being called up to the national team because of the…

13 JANUARY, 1996 v Cameroon 3-0 (P Masinga 14’, Williams 37’, Moshoeu 55’) African Nations Cup finals group A Soccer City, Johannesburg Ref.: Said Belqoba (Morocco) Att.: 75000 South Africa: Andre Arendse, Sizwe Motaung, David Nyathi, Mark Fish, Neil Tovey capt., Eric Tinkler, Linda Buthelezi (Helman Mkhalele 58’), Doctor Khumalo, John Moshoeu, Phil Masinga (August Makalakalane 82’), Mark Williams (Shaun Bartlett 70’). Coach: Clive Barker. Cameroon: Andem, Agbo, Wome (Njume Ntoko 43’), Song, Mimboe, Jang, Foe, Tchango (Simo 55’), Mouyeme, Omam Biyik, Tchami (Mbarga 65’). Coach: Nyongha. 20 JANUARY, 1996 v Angola 1-0 (Williams 57’) African Nations Cup finals group A Soccer City, Johannesburg Cautions: Joni 51’; P Masinga 87’ Ref.: Ferid Boucetta (Tunisia) Att.: 40000 South Africa: Andre Arendse, Sizwe Motaung, David Nyathi, Mark Fish, Neil Tovey capt., Eric Tinkler, Linda…

Pitso Mosimane played a special role in the career of former Bafana Bafana and Mamelodi Sundowns right-back Anele Ngcongca, whi dies in a car accident in November. “I convinced Anele to come back to South Africa. He was going through injuries and not playing. But I checked his games and thought he was just too good,” Mosimane says. “Ahead of the [2010] World Cup I spoke to [Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto] Parreira and told him this boy would do well in the tournament. It is a big history with Anele. We played him against France and he was unbelievable against Franck Ribery. We never regretted it. “I went to Belgium to fetch him to play for South Africa and then later for Sundowns. What a player, what an experienced player.…

It was just a under a month before he turned 34 when Jean-Marc Ithier received an invitation for an assessment at Santos only days after he had featured for Mauritius in a 2000 AFCON qualifier against Bafana Bafana in June 1999. At that time the striker had won the Indian Ocean island’s premier league eight times in the dozen years that he spent playing for Sunrise Flacq United. At that age, and having enjoyed as much success as he had done, he had long given up on the possibility of playing outside Mauritius, and had been begun contemplating hanging his boots until that call from Santos came as he soaked up the warmth of the tropical weather back home. “To be honest with you I was planning to retire at…

1 TS Galaxy midfielder Mlungusi Mbunjana was born and bred in the village of Lutateni in the Eastern Cape town of KwaBhaca, formerly known as Mount Frere. Lutateni is a village located just on the outskirts of KwaBhaca in the Alfred Nzo Municipality. 2 His older brother Buntu Mbunjana also played football as an attacking midfielder and represented the Eastern Cape in a provincial amateur competition in his teenage years and once went to play in a tournament staged in Sweden. Buntu has since left football and now works as a fitness trainer at a gym in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg. 3 Born in the rural areas, Mlungisi grew up herding cows, sheep and goats and would frequently get a hiding for playing football. “I consider myself a rural…

Glyn Binkin is best known as one of the country’s leading football agents, active in the transfer of players both domestically and overseas. His top clients in the past have included Lucas Radebe and Mark Fish. But his entrée to the soccer business came through Bafana Bafana, where he had started working with the national team, first as a coordinator with their marketing partners and then as the full-time team manager. At the Cup of Nations in 1996, he was the team’s de facto administrator “It was an all-encompassing role, liaising with the clubs and players, facilitating travel and all other logistics, and coordinating the team’s daily activities,” he says. Binkin, who was just 23 at the time, had been a junior coach at Pretoria City and worked as a…

Very few remember that Siphiwe Tshabalala’s opening goal at the 2010 World Cup against Mexico came from a defense-splitting pass from Kagisho Dikgacoi – hat’s how underrated the former midfielder is. Dikgacoi had an illustrious career which started at Lamontville Golden Arrows and took to him to Fulham, Crystal Palace and Cardiff City in United Kingdom. He picks his Dream Team of former teammates. 1 Goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer My ex-Fulham teammate, he was a great shot stopper, and had command and height. His leadership skills were great – he used to communicate with defenders and talk to players individually, which is what you need from a goalkeeper. 2 Right-back Fabio da Silva Most people know Fabio from Manchester United, but he was my teammate at Cardiff City; he used both…

The fact that we have fewer players playing their trade overseas is very concerning for me and every South African football fan should be worried about the situation too. There were more South African players playing in big leagues overseas during Apartheid compared to now. What is that? Back then there were not so many opportunities to go overseas like there are today and yet we always had players moving abroad. From the generation of Kaizer Motaung, Jomo Sono, Pule ‘Ace’ Ntsoelengoe, Abednigo ‘Valdes’ Ngcobo, Webster Lechaba and later myself … even Pitso Mosimane and many, more players. We were all scattered around the world having great careers and yet our country was not part of the international football community. These days we are very much part of the global…