Slindile: We will be ready for Namibia

BANYANA Banyana striker Silindile Ngubane believes they will qualify for the 2015 World Cup despite a tough African’s Women’s Championship (AWC) draw.

The senior women’s side were drawn in Group B with Cameroon, Ghana and Algeria for the African Championship, scheduled for Namibia from 11 to 25 October.

The top three finishers at the tournament will represent the continent at the 2015 Fifa Women’s World Cup in Canada.

The three other sides in Group B will all be coming into the tournament with the motivation provided by their male counterparts’ qualification for the World Cup in Brazil.

Banyana’s opening match is against Cameroon at the Independent Stadium on 12 October.

The two sides last played to a 1-1 draw in Yaounde in a friendly ahead of the 2012 edition of the AWC in Equatorial Guinea.

Durban Ladies star Ngubane told SunSport they were expecting Cameroon to come down hard on them: “They are a strong and determined side. I saw their Olympic matches and although they lost all of them, they are hard workers.

“We managed a draw the last time but I think they will come back stronger.”

Ghana had an even better result against Banyana the last time the two met, winning a recent friendly 1-0. South Africa should not be expecting the match to be a walk in the park.

“Ghana beat us through one small mistake when we hosted them in Soweto. Most of the players they used were Under-20 players.

“They will want to prove the win was no fluke. We will have to brace ourselves for a tough tournament,” Ngubane said.

But she said she was confident Banyana would be ready for the trip to Windhoek.

She said: “We have been working to improve different aspects on the field. But we need to tighten our attack. We create a lot of chances, which we don’t capitalise on.

“We are a strong side but we need to be patient and fix the little things, so that we will be ready for Namibia.”

Article published in Daily Sun 24 July 2014

Nedbank Ke Yona is back

The much anticipated Nedbank Ke Yona Team Search officially opens to aspiring football stars today, 1 April 2014. The 32-team Nedbank Cup competition that has over the years pit “David against Goliath”….

The much anticipated Nedbank Ke Yona Team Search officially opens to aspiring football stars today, 1 April 2014. The 32-team Nedbank Cup competition that has over the years pit “David against Goliath” has become one of the most exciting football tournaments in the Premier Soccer League. Running parallel to this prestigious tournament is the Nedbank Ke Yona Team Search that unearths exciting South African football talent for a shot at a professional football career.

The Nedbank Ke Yona Team search is testimony that Nedbank is living up to its brand promise of Making Goals Happen for South Africans from all walks of life. With over 48 000 entries in the inaugural edition of the Nedbank Ke Yona Team Search, this year’s edition is set to be even bigger and better as the quest to discovering the cream of the crop of South African football officially kicks off today.

The successful players that make it through the initial try out phases of the Ke Yona Team Search will be scouted from five provinces for an exciting boot camp that will see the players not just going through the gruelling football drills from top South African coaches, but also equip the boys with a variety of life skills sessions that the players can use moving forward.

A total of 48 players will be selected and eventually trimmed down to the final squad that will be the 2014 Nedbank Ke Yona Team to face the 2014 Nedbank Cup Champions.

From the thousands of participants that took part last year, a final squad of 23 players were selected for a match against Kaizer Chiefs that took place in January.

Nedbank Ke Yona Team Search Try Out Dates and Venues:

1. Tuesday, 21 April : Peter Mokaba Stadium, Polokwane, Limpopo

2. Saturday, 26 April : King Zwelethini Stadium, Umlazi, KwaZulu-Natal

3. Monday, 28 April : Botshabelo Stadium, Bloemfontein, Free State

4. Saturday, 10 May : Ajax Cape Town Ikamva Complex, Parow, Western Cape

5. Saturday & Sunday, 24 & 25 May: FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, Gauteng

Interested players must first register by sms’ing *120*KEYONA# or *120*539662# and follow the easy steps.

NB* Players must be in between the ages of 18 – 35 and in possession of a valid South African ID to be eligible to enter

Source: http://www.keyonateam.co.za/

The MTN8 is upon us

The 2013/14 PSL season has kicked off and oh yay, how excited am I to go to stadiums to watch South Africa’s top teams, I mean all 16 of them, battle it out to get top honours at the at of May next year.

With all that being said, this means that there are cups that will be competed for starting with the MTN8. Unfortunately the winners of the 2012/13 winners of the competition will not get the chance to defend their trophy. Moroka Swallows only managed to finish a disappointing ninth position in the league. The league champions Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates, season 2012/13 surprise package University of Pretoria, Bidvest Wits, SuperSport united, Platinum Stars and the two Free State teams, Bloemfontein Celtic and Free State Stars.

Since August is Women’s month, MTN will reward female fans attending the matches. Female fans stand a chance to pocket R16 000, R8 000 of which will go to a charity of their choice that caters for women and children. The winning fan will be selected for dressing up in spectacular attire at the stadiums during the Wafa Wafa competition.

This year MTN also launched the Last Muso Standing completion, which was worn by Kalawa’s Professor featuring Oskido and the beautiful Busiswa. The 2013 Last Fan Standing will win R1 million and a trip to watch a football match in Brazil in 2014.

The MTN8 tournament dates are:
• 9, 10 and 11 August (quarter finals)
• 21 August (Semi-finals 1st leg)
• 24 and 25 August (Semi-finals 2nd leg)
• 21 September (Final)

Quarter finals fixtures
9 August- Bidvest Wits vs Bloemfontein Celtic, 18:00, Bidvest Stadium
10 August- Platinum Stars vs Free State Stars, 15:00, Royal Bafokeng Sports palace
10 August- Kaizer Chiefs vs University of Pretoria, 20:15, FNB Stadium
11 August- Orlando Pirates vs SuperSport United, 15:00, Mbombela

Development woes, well mine

It is no secret that South African junior football teams struggle at world stage. In fact, it seems though as we don’t have any junior teams. Recently I attended the launch of league formally known as the SAB U21 Regional League and I could not help wonder what exactly do we (the footballing nation) do with these youngsters when they are uncovered at tournaments and leagues like this one. Well I can just name Happy Jele, Mandla Masango, Sandile Ndlovu as some of the players that came from school/ development tournaments but where are the rest?
A while ago Safa “created” position which is meant to concentrate specifically on developing football in the country.
The Safa Development Agency is aimed at ensuring South Africa becomes one of the top three footballing nations in Africa and in the top 20 in the world. It’s been seven months since this was announced and unfortunately personally I haven’t heard what plans or actions have been taken by this department. Well, maybe I’m ignorant about what happens in local football but I doubt that is the reason I don’t really know what’s happening.
Now what I am hoping for is the mother body can get its house in order meaning they will take development serious. I mean why can’t we be like Brazil and others that groom their juniors from when they participate in competitions like the Danone Nations Cup. Speaking of which, what happened to the players that made up the team that won the 2007 tournament? I can’t seem to remember any of them but I’m definitely sure there was something extra special about them to actually beat France. Well, not forgetting that Bafana also beat France in the group stages of the 2010 World Cup.
Anyway, not to divert from the point at hand, when will we stop complaining of not being part of junior world tournaments because we don’t have teams that qualify for them? Now if we don’t have junior teams, how will we grow (or have) project 2020 if we don’t have people to compete then. Since we focus so much on the seniors, we won’t get anywhere.

Nedbank Ke Yona team revealed

2013 Nedbank cup Champs will play the Ke yona team early 2014

The 22-man team to face Kaizer Chiefs

With the busy soccer weekend I had, the Orlando Pirates versus Congo’s AC Leopards pre match press conference and training sessions on Friday evening and the Gauteng Cup football challenge, I missed the big reveal of the final Ke Yona team.

After months, well three to be exact the team was revealed in an hour long live show on SABC 1. A total of 22 players were selected from a country wide search for the team that will play 2013 Nedbank Cup champs, Kaizer Chiefs early next year. The team is coached by former Orlando Pirates coach Owen Da Gama, national U23 Shakes Mashaba, Khabo Zondo and Mike Mangena.

Congratulations to the guys that made the team and good luck while you prepare to meet the current league and Nedbank cup champions.

Below is the team:

KE YONA TEAM POSITION CITY
Japhta Merase Goal Keeper Brits
Mwenya Chibwe Goal Keeper Rustenburg
Sinethemba Sdeba Centre Back Port Elizabeth
Kyle Davies Left Back Durban
Dumisani Mkhwanazi Centre Back Durban/Mandeni
Mthobisi Ndlovu Centre Back Port Sheptone
Donald Shelleng Right Back Carltonville
Pious Madubanya Left Back Midrand
Lukhanyo Ndabetha Central Midfielder Port Elizabeth
Masixole Njokweni Central Midfielder Port Elizabeth
Bagcine Sinqa Left Wing Mount Frere
Engetelani Baloyi Left Wing Daveyton
Brian Oompie Central Midfielder Rustenburg
Zamabuntu Mthini Right Wing Bloemfontein
Lungelo Msomi Right Wing Pietermaritzburg
Mthuthuzeli Matshabane Central Midfielder Cape Town
Cardyn Dunn Central Midfielder Brixton
Collen Mashawa Central Midfielder Diepsloot
Caldea Moseamidi Striker Buggersort
Junior Peinaar Striker Kimberly
Delano Abrahams Striker Kimberly
Thumani Mtshambela Striker Bronkhorstspruit

Ke Yona team trials

The race to being in the country’s first ‘reality show’ football team has begun. aspiring football can now register to be part of the Nedbank Ke Yona team which will be the curtain raiser for next year’s tournament where they will play the winners of the 2013 competition.
For players to be eligible to be selected, they have to register on *120*539662# on their cellphones.

Here’s more information on how you could make the Ke Yona team:

Players must be between 18 and 35.
Only males will be selected.
Each player must possess a South African ID.
Only non-professionals will be selected.
Selection by coaches is final and no correspondence will be entered into.
Each selected player must sign a contract to be part of the team.

Entries cost 20c for every 20 seconds. Once you’ve dialled *120*539662#, you’ll be asked a few simple questions about yourself to be eligible for selection. This should not take long at all. Remember that entries open on 15 March 2013.

Lucky entrants will be selected from 15 March to 15 April and will be advised that they are through to the next round via SMS. They will be prompted to send us their ID numbers and will then be invited to their nearest stadium to attend tryouts. Those who have not made the selection will also be notified via SMS.

Dates for the trials:

Eastern Cape- St Georges cricket stadium- 20 April
KwaZulu Natal- Sugar Ray Xulu stadium- 28 April
Limpopo- Peter Mokaba stadium- 1 May
North West- Olympia Park stadium (TBC)- 11 May
Mpumalanga- Mbombela stadium- 12 May
Free State- Vodacom Park stadium- 19 May
Western Cape- Phillipi stadium- 1 June
Gauteng- FNB stadium (Soccer City)- 2 June
Northern Cape- GWK stadium- 8 June

All the trials will resume at 08:00 in the morning

(More info on this article is extracted from http://www.keyonateam.co.za/ke-yona/team-tryouts)

Lack of sponsors a worry

I’m a big supporter of women’s football in Mzansi and because of that I engage in many conversations with colleagues (in football) and friends about the lack of growth and other things in when it comes to it.

I was so heartbroken to find out recently that Absa have pulled out as sponsors of the Under 19 women’s league. Well this league, like the Sasol league is responsible for feeding the senior (national squad) and other national teams like the Under 20’s and Under 17’s.

Now this worries me because that might mean we might only be left with one sponsored (running) league, in turn that will mean we will have a smaller pool to pick from in terms of getting players for our national teams.

What could Safa be doing wrong that our women’s football structure is not becoming strong? One, not giving enough focus on women’s football. Whenever Banyana Banyana or Amantombazane have an international match, we’d only hear about it a few days before the said match unlike in the male’s team. There is hype made around that match, the state of the tickets sale and the actual squad announcements.

Now, for Banyana matches, which are free, that hype never happens. Which means there will be very few spectators and then the sponsors don’t get ‘publicity’.

Who must we blame when sponsors bail out? The players? Well, Banyana aren’t doing that bad. They came out as runners up at the African Women’s Championship (AWC), which is the equivalent of the Afcon, which Bafana were knocked out of the quarter finals. No, don’t get me wrong I’m not trying to compare the two in terms of achievements and all but what I’m saying is there is a lot that can be done to improve the state of our women’s football and hopefully impress enough and qualify for the next women’s World Cup in 2015 in Canada. 

Nedbank brings reality football

Over the years it seems reality television shows are taking over on our screens. Most of these shows discover the most raw of talents for South Africa, most of these shows come in the form of music talent shows. It is refreshing that the green bank will make things happen for potential football stars a well.

This is not the first reality football talent finding show, it seems to be the exciting of all (well, it did get me really excited), well mostly because the chosen Ke Yona team will play against the winners of this season’s Nedbank Cup.

Few years ago, soccer lovers had the chance to witness the discovery of young, gifted footballers through shows like the Coca Cola Football Stars and Sokka Kings.  Football Stars brought us players like Happy Jele and Mandla Masango, who now are in the books of two biggest Soweto giants, Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs.

While Sokka King winner Eric Macheru got a chance to play/ train with Ajax Cape Town and Tottanham Hotspur as part of his prize. Sadly, Macheru is no longer in the footballing circles, he is now an actor. He was on SABC 1’s drama Skeem Sami. I wish that show was won by someone who had the stomach to stay in football, but hey what can one say, he was voted for and won.

Which brings me to my next point, I hope the people who will trial to be part of this Ke Yona team are people who are passionate about the game, well not that I’m saying Eric wasn’t passionate enough. Trials will be held throughout the country, in all

The requirements of potential team should be between the ages of 18 and 35, will be selected by South Africa’s footballing legends and they will live their lives in front of the camera until the final 18 team members are selected. Members of the public will also have a chance to choose their favourite player to be part of the squad. This is a big opportunity for those who never got the chance to make it to pro football to try their luck.

 

 

 

Banyana need competition

 

Working as the women’s football correspondent or reporter for my former newspaper has helped me build relations with a couple of female footballers, some of the best in the country I say. And whenever I get to chat with them, not on record, we always get to the point of a professional league.  Seem, these ladies don’t really get enough competition among themselves. The only time they compete is during the Absa Women’s League, which caters for Under 19s and the Sasol National league. The problem with these two leagues is that they only run for a short while throughout the year.

Unlike their male counterparts, they only compete once a year and only then do the national squad scouts get a chance to watch and select players for the national team. Now, I think this is a disadvantage to the country and the players themselves as they don’t get enough time to showcase what they are capable of. This then leads, I think, to the failure of our women’s team on the world stage.

When Abantwana qualified for the Under 17 World Cup in Germany in 2010, this seemed like a breakthrough for women’s football in the country. But when we were whooped 10-1 by Germany, that was a sign that there is still so much to improve our women’s football.

Banyana Banyana fought very hard to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics. When they beat the Ethiopians 6-2 on aggregate, this meant our girls have a fighting spirit. But that was just an African country ranked only number 34 in the CAF rankings. Unfortunately, they were drawn against top ranked teams in the world. And yes, they didn’t do that great.

Now, what is the country or the football association doing to improve the standard of our football that we don’t get embarrassed on the world stages? Could there have been something done between the two years that we’ve qualified for these big tournaments?

I believe so. But so far, how much of improvements have been made? Nothing much really. South Africa needs to uphold all of our football teams the same way. Bafana is just as important as Banyana, so are the other national teams.

Chippa brings flavour to ekasi

Finally the Cape has a team in the PSL that’s coming straight from ekasi. This is all thanks to Chippa United FC which has won promotion to Mzantsi’s elite league this upcoming season. This team from Phillipi in the Cape Flats, as the first team from ekasi to make it to the most lucrative league in the country, probably carries the hope and pride of all soccer lovers at black townships in the Cape if not the whole of the Western Cape.

Soccer lovers here have for years been crying for a team representing our townships to make it to the PSL. At some point there were four Cape Town based clubs playing in the ranks of the PSL in one season but still one didn’t feel the same sense of pride I experienced when the Chilli Boys, as Chippa United are affectionately known, was promoted to the PSL. This is because I never felt that teams like Cape Town Spurs, Helenic and even Santos were representing the hood I’m from. But with Chippa, it’s a whole different story.

A sport journalist at the office told me when the Promotion-Relegation Play-Offs started it would be more beneficial for the paper if Chippa made it to the PSL. He explained Chippa is more in touch with the community because they have close ties with the media, which was more than what he could say about Santos that apparently overlooked us (the best-selling newspaper in the Western Cape) for reasons known only to them.

I just can’t wait for the PSL season to begin so that I can put on my Chilli Boys t-shirt and drive to Phillipi Stadium (that is if they keep using it as their home base) and support the boys from the hood – from MY hood. Sorry Kaizer Chiefs, but charity begins at home. Besides you have more than enough fans to go around.

This piece was contributed by Anele Mfazwe who writes for Son in Cape Town