Table of contents for March 2021 in Kick Off

When the former Lesotho international Lekoane Lekoane played for Kaizer Chiefs in the mid-1990s, there was not much fanfare about his football. While the ‘Glamour Boys’ were filled with star players like Thabang Lebese, Isaac ‘Shakes’ Kungwane and Pollen Ndlanya – the ‘cheesekop’ striker quietly went about his business without grabbing headlines. In 1996, when Chiefs came to the Mother City to play Cape Town Spurs at Athlone Stadium, Lekoane was one of the best players on the pitch alongside Ndlanya, helping his team win the match 4-1. He made darting runs, created spaces for Ndlanya, but when he scored, his celebrations were not as joyous as you would have expected – it was as if scoring didn’t mean anything to him. At least that’s what it looked like to…

Having qualified to the CAF Champions League group stages for the first time in the club’s history, Chiefs should look to use the opportunity to build up the character and experience necessary to on and compete on all fronts next season, according to Daine Klate. “I think it’s in good stead for them, I think the Champions League should be used as a springboard to prepare the team more than anything else – the physical and mental demands of the game, which is slightly different to the PSL and the difficult conditions when you travel away especially,” says the retired winger, who went on to finish as runner-up to Al Ahly in the 2013 CAF Champions League. “But I think it will be a vital experience, specifically for the youngsters…

1 Goalkeeper Paul Evans The best goalkeeper I have ever played with was my former Wits University teammate Paul Evans. The best goalkeepers don’t come from so-called bigger clubs, they come from smaller clubs because they are constantly in difficult situations. He took over from Steve Crowley and helped us win two trophies in 1995 – the BP Top 8 and Coca-Cola Cup. 2 Right-back Steve Barker I would say Edward Motale, who I played with in the national team, is one of the best in this position. But the best-of-the-best is current Stellenbosch coach Steve Barker. Steve was a hard worker in our Wits team and a great teammate to have as well. 3 Left-back Lovers Mohlala I played many different positions on the field from left-back to left-wing,…

KICK OFF: Lux, congratulations on your appointment at the Confederation of African Football! Luxolo September: Thank you so much. Before we get into more on that, how and where did football start for you? Not just football, I’m lucky that I come from the Eastern Cape, which is an area where you are exposed to many different sports, like cricket, rugby, football and swimming. I was talented as an athlete, I was a very good sprinter – 100m and 200m. I represented Border; I went on to represent Eastern Cape and so forth, but I was lazy and I didn’t like it, even though I was talented in it. I never trained. During the week, I would rather be on a cricket or soccer field, or swimming, instead of being…

MATCHDAY 1 (12–13 FEBRUARY) Mamelodi Sundowns v Al Hilal Wydad Casablanca v Kaizer Chiefs MATCHDAY 2 (23 FEBRUARY) Chabab Belouizdad v Mamelodi Sundowns Kaizer Chiefs v Horoya MATCHDAY 3 (5–6 MARCH) TP Mazembe v Mamelodi Sundowns Kaizer Chiefs v Petro Atletico MATCHDAY 4 (16 MARCH) Mamelodi Sundowns v TP Mazembe Petro Atletico v Kaizer Chiefs MATCHDAY 5 (2–3 APRIL) Al Hilal v Mamelodi Sundowns Kaizer Chiefs v Wydad Casablanca MATCHDAY 6 (9–10 APRIL) Mamelodi Sundowns v Chabab Belouizdad Horoya v Kaizer Chiefs…

Who have been role-models for you in getting you where you are today? I would say it is Madam Gugu [Marawa] and Carlos [Catalino] at the KZN Academy. They have taken such an interest in my career and even up to day they are always asking me how I am doing and give me the motivation to push and do more. They do not sugar-coat things for me, they are honest and I really am glad for that. They have been pushing me ever since I got there because they believe in me and believe that I can do something in the future for South Africa. They have helped me a lot to get to where I am today.…

I am happy that Tokelo Rantie has finally made his return to professional football when he joined TTM, this is really good news. I hope he can go out there and enjoy himself because football is a short career. He is a gifted and talented player; it was really disappointing to see someone as talented as him go through the difficulties he went through. I hope he can use this opportunity at TTM to prove himself because I know him very well. It was a learning curve for him to go through a divorce, it’s always something that you don’t foresee happening. In life you do things to make your life better but through circumstances things change and people’s expectations of you also change. So, you can’t predict the future.…

Former Orlando Pirates and SuperSport United player Daine Klate believes that Gavin Hunt’s decision to join Kaizer Chiefs was not ill-informed or made in haste. Having won four league titles, the Telkom Knockout and an MTN8 trophy over two separate spells with Hunt at SuperSport United and Bidvest Wits, Klate understands the Chiefs coach well. “I think it was always going to be a little difficult,” he says. “Gavin comes from a different environment … Chiefs have a different culture to the teams that he became accustomed to. “[Bidvest] Wits and SuperSport [United] had a similar type of way of doing things, and Chiefs have their own way of doing things. It was always going to be a challenge, but one I feel he was ready for. “I think he’s…

Mandla Ncikazi played as a defender, starting out with Reservoir Hills United in the OK League, the old NSL second division, before moving on to African Wanderers with who he played in the PSL, making his debut in the 1997/98 season. In his first season in top-flight football, he managed 12 appearances with Wanderers as they were relegated at the end of that season. He was in the Abaqulusi team that had the famous strike trio of Sibusiso Zuma, Phumlani Mkhize and Siyabonga Nomvethe, a team that also featured Patrick Nxumalo, Arthur Bartman, Tholomuzi Blose, Jabulani Ngwenya, Bhekuyise Goba, Jomo Mkhalele and Innocent Mayoyo. He went down with Wanderers to the First Division before coming up with them for the 1999/2000 campaign making 13 appearances. After that he joined AmaZulu…

John Tlale John looked very quiet, but he was naughty in the dressing room, he made fun of people and was such a great guy to be around. Peter Gordon My former teammate at Wits, Peter was as tough as nails. A no-nonsense defender. If you had Peter at the back, you felt safe because he fought hard for the team. Themba Mnguni Themba also played many positions, including right-back, right-wing and sometimes centre-back. He was also our captain. Bennett Mnguni Bennett was good and I knew even then that he was destined to move to Europe. Isaac Kungwane I played with ‘Shakes’ in the national team and we come from the same place. He also used to coach me when I was younger.…

Al Hilal The Sudanese club meet Sundowns again for the first time in 12 years, since eliminating the South Africans in the knockout stages in 2008, including a 4-2 home win. The club from Khartoum – to be completely accurate the dormitory city of Omdurman across the River Nile – are 91 years ago, have won a record 27 Sudanese championships and are making a 19th successive Champions League appearance. They were twice runners-up in the old African Champions Cup and reached the semi-finals five times, the last in 2015. They are coached by Zoran Manojlovi?, a Serbian with previous working experience in Angola and Morocco. Late last year, they signed the unknown Zimbabwean Last Jesi from FC Platinum and at the end of January added Jamaica international Alvas Powell…

A career that started at Mathebe FC in Levi’s Nek in the Leribe District of Lesotho did not seem worthy of taking Lekoane Lekoane outside the country’s borders, let alone land him a contract at Soweto glamour club Kaizer Chiefs. When he crossed the border into South Africa in 1988, it wasn’t for football, but to seek employment in the mines as an underground casual worker earning R600 per month. From Mathebe he had spent two years with Arsenal when he arrived at the Vaal Reef mines in the North West province, and was there along with plenty of his fellow countrymen chasing a better living. “My first time coming to South Africa was to work in the mines with football not a priority,” reveals Lekoane. Even though his occupation…

Senior players such as Itumeleng Khune, Willard Katsande and Bernard Parker, who have enjoyed success at the heights of their careers, have drawn mixed sentiments from the Amakhosi faithful with regards to their value and contribution to the squad. But Siyabonga Nkosi feels their futures will all depend on their willingness to buy into, and help instil, Gavin Hunt’s philosophy and ideasonto the rest of the squad. “I feel he can still use those players, depending on how he wants to use them, whether sparingly or full-time,” Nkosi says. “The main thing is for the coach and the senior guys to find an understanding. Obviously, there’s bound to be misunderstandings between some of the experienced players or those with a bigger profile and the coach, but the difference is in…

Horoya Guinea were one of African football’s powerhouses in the 1970s but the west African country went into decline quickly thereafter and has had limited impact on the continental football scene since. But the arrival of businessman Antonio Souare, who was once the manager of Miriam Makeba, at the helm of the club in 2011 has drastically changed their fortunes, even to the extent of importing players from other countries in the region – something that was unthinkable in the preceding three decades. “Horoya only existed by name,” explains Souaré. “I established an investment project for the initial period 2011-2017, with, first of all, the establishment of an essential framework: headquarters, administration, team, technical staff.” Horoya quickly won the league title in Guinea and have continued to dominate the domestic…

1 Gamildien was born at Tygerberg Hospital, Cape Town as the first of two kids. He has a 14-year-old brother Tauric Gamildien. 2 Born to a single mother, Gamildien has never had any relationship with his father. “My dad is still around but I have never had any relationship with him because he was never present in my life. I was brought up by my mother and grandparents,” he says. 3 The forward is popularly known as ‘Zaikey’ – a nickname he has had since his early childhood days. “When I started playing on the streets other kids couldn’t pronounce my name, so I became known as Zaikey and the name has stuck.” 4 Gamildien grew up in Uitsig and attended Cravenby Combined School before proceeding to Elsies River High,…