Soweto Rivals compete for the Danone Nations Cup Regional Title

 

When the Soweto regional playoffs in under-12 Danone Nations Cup get underway this year they are going to feature a mini Soweto derby that has something of the passion and intensity of the legendary Orlando Pirates vs Kaizer Chiefs clashes.

Ekuphemeleni Primary School of Jabulani, Soweto and Usindo Primary of Zondi Soweto, have a longstanding rivalry in netball, athletics and soccer and clashes between the two schools are always well attended and they generate a lot of interest.

Ekuphemeleni has had the upper hand recently – they beat Usindo in netball and athletics last year, and knocked them out of the Danone Nations Cup.

Usindo, however, has already won the athletics meeting this year, and are looking to turn the table in netball and soccer as well. The Danone Nations Cup gives them the opportunity to start that process.

Ekuphemeleni coach and manager, Jabu Ndlovu said it’s great to see the competitiveness among the players of the two schools. “They only meet once during the soccer season. And we will have to be prepared mentally and physically because this is one of the biggest tournaments, and an opportunity to travel to France for the world finals.”

Ekuphemeleni has been participating in the Danone Nations Cup since 2011 after watching the world finals that year at the Orlando Stadium.

Ndlovu chose his team in November last year and they have been training ever since. “It’s important to work with the class teachers at the school,” he said. “It’s important to know how the players are doing in the classroom as this will affect them on the soccer pitch.”

The team at Usindo Primary School is managed by twins: Lungelo Nala, the coach, and Mrs Nomalungelo Mooi, the team manager.

The school has been taking part in the tournament since 2014 but they have not managed to make it past district level. Like Ekuphemeleni, they have been in training since last year and are hoping to turn the tables on their Soweto rivals in the tournament. 

Nala is always amazed at how the players, who are shy and quiet in class, become transformed on the soccer field. “They start to express themselves, it’s as if we are dealing with different learners,” he said.

It’s the first time that Mooi and Nala are together with the team and they are looking forward to the challenge. The team is training three times a week at this stage.

Mooi said the build up to matches against Ekuphemeleni is always hectic because of the traditional rivalry. “The whole school becomes involved and comes to watch the games,” she said.

Nala believes tournaments like the Danone Nations Cup are important because they allow the kids to expose other talents.” Some learners aren’t academically gifted so their self-esteem goes down and they feel like they are not important. Sport is important because it can boost confidence and build personality,” he said.

“And the Danone Nations Cup is very important to some communities like ours where there is a high rate of crime and many drop out of school. Most of the learners don’t have much to look forward to once they get home, but they do have soccer to concentrate on now.”

 

Malcomess Senior Secondary School through to the provincial finals for the 3rd time

Malcomess Senior Secondary School of Aliwal North will be making their third appearance in the Eastern Cape provincial finals of the Kay Motsepe Schools Cup, sponsored by the Motsepe Foundation and Sanlam, on 15^th August.  They are determined to progress to the national finals, something they failed to do in previous provincials.

Malcomess beat Sibabalwe Senior Secondary School on penalties in the Geo Gqabi regional finals that took place this week.

Their coach, Tieho Rantho, believes it will be different this time because they have an exciting new team, and they are better prepared. “Last year unfortunately we were knocked out in the earlier stages of the tournament, but there are some excellent players in the new team and I know we will go far.  Our captain, Mawethu Mahe is the only player that was part of the 2013 and 2014 team. He is the only 19 year old in the team as the rest are 16 and 17 years old.”

Rantho is proud of his players who beat other teams made up mostly of 19 year olds and were much taller and bigger than his boys.  “I am confident and believe in this team. They have done remarkably well this year.”

Rantho said the regional playoffs this year were the toughest they have played in. There was little to choose between the teams and few clear winners in the games. “Schools from our district have certainly become more challenging than they have been before; there definitely is progress out there. The fact that we had provincial final experience didn’t threaten or intimidate our opposition; in fact it made them want to prove a point to us.”

Rantho has studied Sports Psychology and Sports Management at Unisa and has been coaching at Malcolmess since 2004. Current Kaizer Chiefs player Bangani Ndulula, came though his hands at the school.

He believes that studying sports psychology has improved his coaching. “I am able to tap into the players’ minds and help them understand and improve their game mentally,” he said. “Coaching is broad in a sense that it’s not just about training the physical body, it’s also about training the players’ minds and emotions.”

The school is now preparing for the provincials, and the coach will be working on the attack. “We missed opportunities to score goals, but I am not worried about the defence There won’t be any tweaking of the side, I am happy with how they played at the regionals,” he said. “But we will be soliciting help from local coaches as we need to be better prepared this time around if we want to win the provincials. We want to represent Eastern Cape at the national finals this year and the players believe that they can do a much better job than previous provincial winners.”  

Regional Playoffs Results

Mount Fletcher Sports Grounds, 16^th May 2015

Sibabalwe 1 vs Tlokweng 1

Ethembeni 1 vs Malcomess 2

Sibabalwe v1 s Ethembeni 3

Malcomess 1 vs Tlokweng 1

Ethembeni 1 vs Tlokweng 1

Final

Malcomess 0 vs Sibabalwe 0 (Malcolmess won on penalties).

Vodacom powers up subscribers to be South Africa’s next millionaire

This summer Vodacom is bringing the power to its subscribers as one lucky South African stand the chance to be a millionaire as Vodacom will be handing over one million Rand to one lucky subscriber at the legendary Soweto Derby.

This will be the first millionaire drawn from the Vodacom 20x More Summer campaign and is one of the many prizes available to subscribers over the duration of the campaign.

In celebrating 20 years of empowering South Africans, Vodacom are giving customers the best Summer in 20 years.  As part of the 20x More Summer campaign the telecoms giant will be giving customers 400 million gifts in the form of airtime, data, fashion and food vouchers, amongst a number of other prizes and experiences.

 “This is just one of the ways in which we as Vodacom are rewarding our customers for their loyalty. This is a particularly significant year for South Africa and we as Vodacom want to celebrate the journey that we have travelled with South Africans over the past 20 years,” said Bronson Mokabela, Executive Head: Sponsorship and Regional Marketing.

The closing date for all entries for a chance to become the country’s latest millionaire will be at midnight on 27 November with the first winner being announced at the biggest sporting event on the South African sporting calendar, the Soweto Derby taking place on 6 December.

To stand a chance to be South Africa’s next millionaire, simply recharge for R12 or more or buy a Summer bundle - and you will automatically be entered into the competition.

Absa Premiership Match Press Kits Kaizer Chiefs v Mamelodi Sundowns 5 April

ABSA PREMIERSHIP

2013/14 Season

MATCH PRESS KIT

FROM BACKPAGE PICS

Kaizer Chiefs v Mamelodi Sundowns

FNB Stadium

Saturday 05 April 2014

20h15 kick-off

Match background   

-       Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns will meet for a top-of-the-table Absa Premiership clash at the FNB Stadium on Saturday, 05 April 2014, kick-off at 20h15.

-       Chiefs recorded a third successive league win with a 2-0 victory at home to Golden Arrows in midweek.

-       The Soweto side is unbeaten at home, with nine wins and two draws from 11 matches as hosts.

-       Their next three league opponents are Mpumalanga Black Aces (home), Polokwane City (away) and Free State Stars (home).

-       The Amakhosi are placed first on the Absa Premiership log with 52 points from 23 matches.

-       Sundowns racked up a fifth successive league win when they defeated University of Pretoria 2-1 at home.

-       The Tshwane side has claimed 23 points from their 12 away matches so far this season.

-       Their next three league opponents are Bloemfontein Celtic, Mpumalanga Black Aces (both home) and Moroka Swallows (away).

-       The Brazilians are placed second on the Absa Premiership log with 49 points from 24 matches.

-       In head-to-head stats, Chiefs and Sundowns have met in 57 league matches since 1985.

-       The Amakhosi have 24 wins compared to 17 for the Brazilians, while 16 matches have been drawn.

-       Chiefs have won 16 of their 28 home matches against ‘Downs, suffering four defeats in the process.

-       When the teams met earlier this season in Tshwane, the Amakhosi claimed a 1-0 away win thanks to an own goal from Arendse.

-       Chiefs’ line-up from their 2-0 win over Arrows: Khuzwayo, Gaxa, Mathoho, Mashamaite, Masilela, Maluleka, Katsande, Nkosi (Lebese 46’), Tshabalala, Parker (Mphela 78’), Nkhatha (Rusike 85’).

-       Sundowns’ line-up from their 2-1 win over Tuks: Mweene, Mashaba, Schut, Nthethe, Mphahlele, Kekana, Modise, Wome (Zungu 58’), Mokoena, Moriri (Sumaila 75’), Laffor (Malajila 90’).

                                                                                                                       

Previous meetings   

Last ten league meetings

Season          Result                                                Scorers

2008/09          Chiefs 1-0 Sundowns         Nale

2009/10          Sundowns 2-2 Chiefs         Mphela 2 (1 pen); Musona, Tshabalala

2009/10          Chiefs 1-2 Sundowns         Dladla (pen); Mphela, Xulu

2010/11          Chiefs 1-0 Sundowns         Motaung Jr

2010/11          Sundowns 2-0 Chiefs         Mushekwi, Pelembe

2011/12          Sundowns 0-1 Chiefs         Sweswe

2011/12          Chiefs 2-0 Sundowns         Ngcobo, Tshabalala

2012/13          Chiefs 2-1 Sundowns         Nkosi, Nkhatha; Daniels

2012/13          Sundowns 0-0 Chiefs

2013/14          Sundowns 0-1 Chiefs         Arendse (og)

Head-to-Head

(League only, since 1985)

Home                                    

                        P         W        D         L          GF       GA

Chiefs                        28        16        8          4          44        19

Sundowns    29        13        8          8          31        23

Away

                        P         W        D         L          GF       GA

Chiefs                        29        8          8          13        23        31

Sundowns    28        4          8          16        19        44

Total 

                        P         W        D         L          GF       GA

Chiefs                        57        24        16        17        67        50

Sundowns    57        17        16        24        50        67

Fixtures and results

Kaizer Chiefs

2013/14 Absa Premiership results

No       Date                H/A     Opponent      (HT) Result    Goal scorers

1          02/08/13         A         Aces               (1-0) W 1-0    Parker 5’

2          27/08/13         H         Swallows       (0-0) D 1-1     Parker 60’ pen

3          31/08/13         A         SuperSport    (1-0) L 1-3      Parker 29’ pen

4          14/09/13         H         Maritzburg     (1-0) W 2-0    Musona 37’, Lebese 75’

5          17/09/13         A         Celtic              (0-0) D 0-0

6          21/09/13         H         P Stars           (1-1) W 2-1    Parker 21’, Musona 68’

7          26/10/13         H         Pirates            (1-1) D 1-1     Nkhatha 41’

8          05/11/13         A         Ajax                (0-0) L 0-1

9          09/11/13         H         Wits                (0-0) W 2-1    Nkhatha 48’, Majoro 84’

10        27/11/13         H         Polokwane    (3-0) W 4-1    Mathoho 4’, Nkhatha 26’, Parker 32’ 60’

11        30/11/13         A         FS Stars         (1-0) W 2-0    Nkosi 41’, Tshabalala 90+1’

12        16/12/13         H         U Pretoria      (1-0) W 1-0    Musona 6’

13        19/12/13         A         Arrows            (0-0) W 1-0    Parker 48’ pen

14        22/12/13         A         AmaZulu       (0-0) W 4-1    Nkosi 55’ 86’, Musona 61’, Parker 80’

15        23/01/14         A         Sundowns    (1-0) W 1-0    Arendse og 10’

16        31/01/14         A         Swallows       (1-0) W 2-0    Nkhatha 4’, Musona 72’

17        05/02/14         H         SuperSport    (1-0) W 1-0    Parker 16’

18        11/02/14         A         Maritzburg     (1-2) D 2-2     Nkhatha 6’, Mashamaite 80’

19        19/02/14         H         Celtic              (1-0) W 3-0    Parker 43’, Musona 71’, Buchanan og 89’

20        12/03/14         A         P Stars           (0-1) L 0-2

21        15/03/14         A         Pirates            (0-0) W 1-0    Katsande 61’

22        19/03/14         H         Ajax                (0-0) W 2-0    Musona 85’ 90’

23        02/04/14         H         Arrows            (0-0) W 2-0    Mathoho 53’, Nkhatha 69’

2013/14 Absa Premiership fixtures

No       Date                H/A     Opponent

24        05/04/14         H         Mamelodi Sundowns

25        09/04/14         H         Mpumalanga Black Aces

26        16/04/14         A         Polokwane City

27        19/04/14         H         Free State Stars

28        23/04/14         A         Bidvest Wits

29        26/04/14         A         University of Pretoria

30        10/05/14         H         AmaZulu

League position – 1st

                        P         W        D         L          GF       GA      GD      Pts

Home             11        9          2          0          21        5          +16     29

Away              12        7          2          3          15        9          +6        23

Overall           23        16        4          3          36        14        +22     52

Mamelodi Sundowns

2013/14 Absa Premiership results

No       Date                H/A     Opponent      (HT) Result    Goal scorers

1          04/08/13         A         Celtic              (1-0) W 3-1    Kekana 23’, Malajila 62’, Modise pen 72’

2          28/08/13         H         P Stars           (0-0) D 1-1     Wome 58’

3          31/08/13         A         Arrows            (0-0) W 1-0    Wome 57’

4          17/09/13         A         Ajax                (0-0) D 2-2     Zungu 52’, Malajila 82’

5          21/09/13         H         Wits                (1-1) W 2-1    Schut 14’, Billiat 58’

6          22/10/13         H         AmaZulu       (4-0) W 7-1    Kekana 2’ Malajila 21’ Mashego 22’ 80’ Wome 44’

Mphela 86’ 90+2’

7          26/10/13         A         Polokwane    (0-1) L 0-1

8          06/11/13         H         FS Stars         (1-0) W 2-1    Malajila 27’, Moriri 86’

9          09/11/13         A         U Pretoria      (2-1) W 3-1    Malajila 3’, Billiat 29’, Ramagalela 90+3’

10        01/12/13         H         Swallows       (1-0) W 2-1    Mashego 43’ 60’

11        04/12/13         A         Aces               (0-1) L 0-1

12        16/12/13         A         SuperSport    (0-1) D 1-1     Mashego 48’

13        20/12/13         H         Maritzburg     (1-1) D 2-2     Mashego 10’, Billiat 90+2’

14        23/01/14         H         Chiefs                        (0-1) L 0-1

15        05/02/14         H         Arrows            (1-0) W 2-0    Billiat 10’, Laffor 52’

16        08/02/14         A         Pirates            (0-0) W 1-0    Kekana 63’

17        15/02/14         H         Ajax                (2-1) W 3-2    Nthethe 27’, Mashego 32’ pen, Laffor 76’

18        25/02/14         H         Pirates            (0-1) L 0-1

19        01/03/14         A         Wits                (1-1) L 1-3      Wome 5’

20        09/03/14         A         AmaZulu       (1-0) W 2-0    Moriri 9’, Modise 76’

21        15/03/14         H         Polokwane    (1-0) W 1-0    Modise 17’

22        18/03/14         A         FS Stars         (2-0) W 2-1    Laffor 15’, Wome 41’

23        25/03/14         A         P Stars           (1-0) W 3-1    Moriri 21’, Laffor 49’, Mokoena 78’

24        30/03/14         H         U Pretoria      (1-0) W 2-1    Laffor 45+1’, Mokoena 66’

2013/14 Absa Premiership fixtures

No       Date                H/A     Opponent

25        05/04/14         A         Kaizer Chiefs

26        09/04/14         H         Bloemfontein Celtic

27        16/04/14         H         Mpumalanga Black Aces

28        19/04/14         A         Moroka Swallows

29        26/04/14         H         SuperSport United

30        10/05/14         A         Maritzburg United

League position – 2nd

                        P         W        D         L          GF       GA      GD      Pts

Home             12        8          2          2          24        12        +12     26

Away              12        7          2          3          19        12        +7        23

Overall           24        15        4          5          43        24        +19     49

League standings

Pos     Team                                      P         W        D         L          GF       GA      GD      Pts

1          Kaizer Chiefs                                    23        16        4          3          36        14        +22     52

2          Mamelodi Sundowns          24        15        4          5          43        24        +19     49

3          Bidvest Wits                          22        12        5          5          28        17        +11     41

4          Orlando Pirates                    23        11        4          8          24        17        +7        37

5          Mpumalanga Black Aces   24        10        7          7          28        25        +3        37

6          Platinum Stars                      24        9          8          7          26        25        +1        35

7          AmaZulu                               25        9          8          8          24        30        -6         35

8          SuperSport United               23        9          7          7          31        27        +4        34

9          Bloemfontein Celtic             24        7          12        5          30        28        +2        33

10        Moroka Swallows                 24        8          6          10        27        30        -3         30

11        University of Pretoria           24        8          4          12        21        23        -2         28

12        Ajax Cape Town                   24        7          7          10        21        27        -6         28

13        Maritzburg United                24        7          6          11        28        34        -6         27

14        Free State Stars                   23        5          6          12        22        34        -12      21

15        Polokwane City                    24        5          5          14        24        34        -10      20

16        Golden Arrows                     23        4          1          18        17        41        -24      13

Round fixtures

Friday 04 April 2014

20h00 – Moroka Swallows v Ajax Cape Town – Dobsonville Stadium

Saturday 05 April 2014

15h00 – SuperSport United v Orlando Pirates – Lucas Moripe Stadium

15h00 – Mpumalanga Black Aces v Bidvest Wits – Mbombela Stadium

18h00 – University of Pretoria v Polokwane City – Tuks Stadium

18h00 – AmaZulu v Free State Stars – Moses Mabhida Stadium

20h15 – Kaizer Chiefs v Mamelodi Sundowns – FNB Stadium

Sunday 06 April 2014

15h00 – Bloemfontein Celtic v Platinum Stars – Kaizer Sebothelo Stadium

15h00 – Maritzburg United v Golden Arrows – Harry Gwala Stadium

Club information

Kaizer Chiefs

Nickname: The Amakhosi

Formed: 1970

Major honours: League titles: 11 (1974, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1984, 1989, 1991, 1992, 2004, 2005, 2013); Top Eight Cup titles: 14 (1973, 1974, 1976, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1992, 1994, 2001, 2006, 2008); League Cup titles: 13 (1983, 1984, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1997, 1998, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2010*); National Cup titles: 13 (1971, 1972, 1976, 1977, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1992, 2000, 2006, 2013); Other cup/half-league titles: 12 (1970, 1972, 1974, 1976, 1980, 1982, 1984, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1996); 2001 African Cup Winners Cup. [*2010/11 season]      

All-time PSL record: (Not including 2013/14 season results)

P         W        D         L          GF       GA      GD      Pts

534     259     173     102     753     437     +316   950

Mamelodi Sundowns

Nickname: The Brazilians

Formed: 1970

Major honours: League titles: 8 (1988, 1990, 1993, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2006, 2007); Top Eight Cup titles: 3 (1988, 1990, 2007); League Cup titles: 2 (1990, 1999); National Cup titles: 3 (1986, 1998, 2008); Other cup titles: 1 (1988).

All-time PSL record: (Not including 2013/14 season results)

P         W        D         L          GF       GA      GD      Pts

534     260     144     130     771     470     +301   924