A tale of two derbies: Manchester and Soweto send their mighty table-toppers out to grass

Give a little whistle: Referee Robert Smith and Pirate Andile Jali

MANCHESTER and Soweto. Two football-mad communities 5,773 miles or 9 288km apart. At first glance they have just presented us with a pair of dazzling derbies, pitting two of the biggest clubs in their respective nations against each other.

Take One: At Soccer City on Saturday, in front of 90,000, champions Orlando Pirates took on the nation’s most popular club, Kaizer Chiefs, trailing their Soweto rivals by three points in the South African PSL.

Take Two: At the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, in front of 60,000, champions City  took on the nation’s most popular club, United, trailing their Manchester rivals by three points in the English Premier League.

We could go on and on about the similarities. Both were games of two halves. Pirates dominated the first half of the Soweto derby, Chiefs the second as they came back to draw 1-1.

United dominated the first half of the Manchester derby, City the second as they came back from 2-0 down to 2-2.

Both referees were roundly condemned for a series of bizarre decisions. Both Manchester United’s Ashley Young and Orlando Pirates’ Collins Mbesuma had goals disallowed for off-side decisions that were to prove entirely spurious.

But then we come to the vital difference, the essential factor. In Manchester, both sides were looking for a winner until the final gasp of derby-drenched air. In Soweto, once Lehlohonolo Majoro had equalised Mbesuma’s opener, Kaizer Chiefs boss Stuart Baxter simply shut up shop, he was happy with a point.

Had substitute Benni McCarthy’s late volley roared in to the top of the net rather than just over the bar, it would have been a game to savour. Instead, with the nation and ESPN Star Sport’s international millions watching, we had to wait for never-say-die Platinum Stars to register an astonishing 6-4 over Golden Arrows to boast about the prolific goal-scoring of the PSL. And by then the international audience was gone, not to mention the domestic viewers, forced to endure AmaTuks 1, Chippa United 0.

In Manchester, Roberto Mancini, having dragged off the eternally angry Mario Balotelli, had thrown Carlos Tevez in to the fray (why he started with the Italian instead of the Argentinian we shall never know), much as Roger de Sa turned to McCarthy. It worked as City came back from the two first half Wayne Rooney goals to level through Yaya Toure and Pablo Zabaleta with seven minutes remaining.

But through it all, we had ignored the single most important factor on the pitch. The presence of former Arsenal top-scorer Robin van Persie. When all seemed lost for United, Sir Alex Ferguson got up and gave us a septuagenarian version of Gangnam Style when Robin’s free-kick went in off cowering former Gunner team-mate Samir Nasri in the last minute.

It all went haywire after that, with Rio Ferdinand cut above the eye by a coin-throwing home fan – we all know Manchester City tend to throw money at their problems these days – and police stepped in to arrest the villain plus a pitch invader and a racist chanter as the derby came to a drama-soaked conclusion.

Sir Alex Ferguson summed it up pretty well afterwards, as he generally does: “It was a fantastic game; you couldn’t take your eyes off it.”

And that’s the point. Sure, Martin Atkinson in Manchester and Robert Smith in Soweto will be scrutinised for some dodgy decisions. The top of the table battles will be picked apart. All four coaches know the race is far from run. But the truth is, too many South African games don’t go down to the wire, the last drip of perspiration.

I felt last season that both Serbian Vladimir Vermezovic at Kaizer Chiefs and Brazilian Julio Leal at Orlando Pirates tended to treat games as “don’t lose” rather than “must win” situations. This season the surprising Baxter and his counterpart De Sa have been a lot more positive.

But what the PSL and their global audience needed on Saturday was a stirring final 20 minutes of “win or bust” from both coaches, throwing everything forward to clinch a vital three points against their closest and biggest rivals.

Instead, the experienced match-winner McCarthy aside, we had two teams scared to disappoint. It’s understandable. But it takes the edge of what could be the best league in Africa.

Sure, Katlego Mphela’s miracle Pitso Mosimane cure (apparently he was suffering from a sore Kneeskens) is worth debating after his comeback goal for Sundowns against Leopards. And we should talk about my beloved AmaZulu picking up a surprise point against Wits.

But it truth my plea is this: Go for glory with gusto. Like Everton did on Sunday against Spurs. Steven Pienaar got one of their two last-gasp goals in a 2-1 triumph when everything looked lost against his former club. According to the British Express over the weekend, Schillo is still mulling over a return to the Bafana Bafana ranks for AFCON 2013 next month.

But that’s a story for next week. This week’s lesson is: it’s never over until big Benni sings.

No Tower. No Major. Let's hope Gordon Igesund hasn't made his first mistake as Bafana coach

Major mistake: Lehlohonolo Major is in fine form

WHEN Bafana Bafana entertain the reigning African champions Zambia on Wednesday night in honour of Nelson Mandela at Soccer City, two of the nation’s form players will be watching the game on the television.

Despite Gordon Igesund’s insistence that he would be “picking players who are doing well for their clubs” the two men who have kept Kaizer Chiefs at the top of the Professional Soccer League table do NOT feature in his squad for the Nelson Mandela Challenge this week.

Mulomowandau Mathoho and Lehlohonolo Majoro – perhaps better known as the Tower and the Major – have been the driving force behind the AmaKhosi’s hugely popular ascent to the top of the local tree. While Igesund spent last week visiting Everton’s Steven Pienaar and Norwich City’s Andrew Surman, Mathoho was a Tower of strength in Chiefs’ wins over Golden Arrows and SuperSport United.

Lest we forget, Bernard Parker scored all the Chiefs goals early on – including a remarkable four against AmaZulu – to force his way in to Gordon’s squad. But with Kingston Nkatha also weighing in up front, Majoro - despite his new, boring hairstyle - is currently the nation’s form goal-getter with five goals in four games. He now trails Parker by one, with six PSL strikes.

And at the back, it is Mathoho – along with Igesund’s favourite goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune – who has ensured the AmaKhosi have conceded a league-leading five goals in 11 games.

Chiefs boss Stuart Baxter, looking more comfortable by the week, said after Majoro had scored both goals in the 2-1 win over previously unbeaten SuperSport United, said: “Major dares me to leave him out of the starting line-up. He trains well and he looks so threatening. I have to pick him.”

And Mathoho, man of the match in the midweek 3-0 win over Golden Arrows, was overlooked yesterday when Igesund decided to call up team-mate Siboniso Gaxa to replace the injured Siya Sangweni in central defence.

Gaxa, like fellow squad members Anele Ngcongca (Racing Club Genk, Belgium), Ricardo Nunes (MSK Zilina), Punch Masenamela (Mamelodi Sundowns) and Thabo Nthethe (Bloemfontein Celtic) is more of a full-back than a central defender. Which leaves us with SuperSport United's Bevan Fransman to fill the a hole and stifle Zambia's big Pirate, Collins Mbesuma.

Thus far, Igesund has used Orlando Pirate Sangweni at centre-back next to captain Bongani Khumalo, currently strutting his stuff for PAOK in Greece. Given Sangweni’s knee injury, the failure to call up Tower is probably even more startling than the decision to overlook Majoro for his team-mate Parker, Tokelo Rantie, Katlego Mashego and Kermit Erasmus up front.

After his strirring efforts last week, Tower grinned: “Credit should go to each and every one in the team. I do not do it alone; we win as a team.

“We need to make sure that we follow our game plan. Winning can be a habit.”

It’s a habit Gordon MUST have by the time AFCON 2013 kicks off at the same Soccer City venue on January 19 against Cape Verde Islands. Still, Igesund does have another form player to turn to. Sifiso Myeni continues to impress in Orlando, scoring the only goal against Steve Komphela’s men on Saturday to put the Pirates second in the PSL.

Coach Roger de Sa, another boss who appears to be enjoying himself lately, said of the youngster he first groomed at Wits: “Sifiso? I’m delighted. With his form and his goal-scoring ability. I know him pretty well and he is playing with a lot of confidence.

“At the moment he is carrying us.”

Hopefully he will carry Gordon’s Bafana on Wednesday night too. But you can’t help thinking the Tower and the Major would have made his task that much easier. 

Gordon spent today's press conferences and media chats outlining his successes and failures on the whistle-stop tour of the UK last week.

He told us he talked to Norwich City's South African-born Andrew Surman and explained: "He didn't seem interested, so I left it at that."

And Igesund went to great lengths to insist he "only went for a cup of coffee" with Steven Pienaar, who announced his international retirement last month. Gordon repeatedly stressed: "The subject of Bafana didn't come up. I wasn't there to beg him to change his mind. He's a man. It was a tough decision. We have to respect that.

"I spoke to Steve about his family - there was some good news about his wife - and I discussed football with him and his coach, David Moyes. Stevie said how much he was enjoying his football. But he says because of the condition of his groin, he can only train twice a week and needs a day to recover afterwards.

Steven Pienaar has been a great ambassador for this country for ten years. He deserves recognition for that. That's why I saw him. Not to make him change his mind. We just had a cup of coffee, that's all. He talked about the differences between Spurs and Everton, stuff like that.

"Is the door closed for Pienaar? Will he ever play for South Africa again? Look, I will never close the door on any South African who wants to play for his country. That's how it is."

The good news came in the shape of Kagiso Dikgacoi at Crystal Palace and Dean Furman, the Oldham Athletic captain. Igesund explained: "I visited both of them. I met KD's new coach at Palace, Ian (Holloway) and he was full of praise for KD. He's made a place for himself there in a very competitive league. I watched him played in a defensive role against Ipswich.

"And I phoned Ian after Palace won over the weekend and KD scored. They are top of that league, he is doing well. Ian said he can playing attacking or defensive. They love him there.

"And with both Oldham and Palace, I got what I wanted. I asked them to release KD and Furman a week early. FIFA stipulates they only have to be released two weeks before the tournament. But I've got their clubs to agree to let me have them on January 1.

"That was why I made the trip. To get to know these managers. To build a relationship. Some games, against local sides, I won't call their players. It's give and take.

"Now I have to build that relationship, with the managers in Begium, Holland and Greece too. That is my job.

"I also spoke to David Somma at Leeds. He's been out of football for a long time with a knee ligament problem but he's played two games for the reserves and he's nearly there.

"It's the same for Thulani Serero at Ajax Amsterdam. He is training again too. But for all these players, Morgan Gould, Killer Mphela and Benni McCarthy, they are back in training but they have to play for their club teams before I can seriously consider them.

"It isn't too late for any of them. But it's getting late. We kick off AFCON on January 19. Time is limited."

A shortened version of this story will appear as my Neal and Pray column in tomorrow's The New Age. See www.thenewage.co.za.

Can Majoro fire Kaizer Chiefs out of the doldrums?

We already knew Lehlohonolo Majoro had balls. It was written all over his t-shirt when Kaizer Chiefs downed Moroka Swallows 3-0 back in February.

After his record-breaking four-goal Nedbank Cup blitz against the rarely-spotted Leopards in Polowane , he earned the match ball – and on Saturday against Platinum Stars he was at it again, scoring the first in a 2-1 win which puts the Amakhosi right back in the title hunt.

For South Africa’s estimated 15 million Amakhosi fans, a goalden Majoro could be the difference between another season of frustration and an autumn of wild celebration – his record 16-minute first-half hat-trick ensured a place in the Nedbank quarter-finals and a few more to finish the season will leave Vladmir Vermezovic’s men handily placed to snatch the double if leaders Orlando Pirates stumble – and I suspect they might.

Though we must keep an eye on Sundowns – who play Leopards tomorrow night at the Peter Mokabe Stadium – and Moroka Swallows are certainly my pick as dark horses – Chiefs remain a potent threat with their huge following and depth of squad.

Majoro, affectionately known as Laser, didn’t quite match the world’s fastest-ever hat-trick in that Nedbank Cup clash – that was set in Scotland in 1964 when Thomas Ross scored three in 91 seconds for Ross County against Nairn County – but the statisticians are struggling to find anything quicker than 16 minutes in the record books, if you discount the 24-0 Sundowns hammering of the shocking Powerlines in the last round.

With the impressive Steve Khomphela’s Free State Stars to come in the quarter-finals (the draw also gave us Amazulu v Santos, Supersport United v Jomo Cosmos and Mamelodi Sundowns v Maritzburg United), Majoro knows there’s plenty of hard work to come.

But what a change from a month ago. On March 9, after unveiling his “I do have balz” undershirt after scoring against Swallows, the former Amazulu striker told Supersport after being fined for getting things off his chest: "I just wanted to answer my detractors. I had to make a point. The message on my vest was light-hearted, I wanted to make my point politely, but in a meaningful manner.”

Today, the ridiculous R30,000 penalty handed out by the “offended” PSL for his vested interest appears historical, hysterical. The goal against Swallows was followed by his first Nedbank Cup strike against Cape Town All Stars, a supersub effort against Orlando Pirates, another in the 2-0 win over Bloemfontein Celtic. Then came all four in the 4-0 cup triumph and Saturday’s strike at the afokeng Sports Palace. He now has nine in his last nine games, with 14 so far this season.

Majora was glowing when he told us: “There was so much expectation when I came here and yes, I did struggle. They were saying I was a one-season wonder at Amazulu (where he scored 14 times in 27 games last season) and that I was a mistake.

“But I pushed myself. The results are showing now. But credit to Siphiwe Tshabalala too. He knows the runs I make, his passes always put me in a good goal-scoring position. We win as a unit, that’s what swings games in our favour.”

Born in Ladybrand on August 19, 1986, Majoro started kicking ball for Manyatseng United Brothers before playing for Free State University and then Bloemfontein’s Young Tigers. Then he was off north to the University of Johannesburg and Highlands Park before Amazulu spotted his spiky-haired, fleet-footed talent and nose for goals.

The rest is history. Capped once by Bafana Bafana – against Tanzania in May last year – Majoro deserves to be seen as a potent answer to the nation’s goalscoring problems before AFCON 2013. Are you listening Pitso?

Neal Collins (@nealcol on twitter) is a South African sportswriter who dodged national service for 25 years by working among the madmen on Fleet Street. The World Cup brought him home.

This story first appeared in The New Age, the latest in my Neal & Pray series which appears every Tuesday in South Africa’s newest daily newspaper. www.thenewage.co.za.

Too many Chiefs for Celtic, but did VV go too far in his post-match critique?

EITHER Vladimir Vermezovic isn't very clever, or he's incredibly brave. You decide. After Kaizer Chiefs' emphatic 2-0 win over Bloemfontein Celtic last night, his frankness was almost alarming.
Despite completely outplaying a useful Celtic outfit, he felt compelled to tell the world on Supersport after the final whistle:"I am not satisfied. The biggest problem is that our guys are not killers. We missed so many chances. I mean, there were opportunities where it would have been easier to miss than to score.
"What can a coach do when they miss chances like that? Next time, those chances may be what win us the game. I am very unhappy. We missed those chances when we were 2-0 up today. But what if we miss chances when it is 0-0?
"I will talk to my players but I am not satisfied."
Fascinating. He wants a gang of killers - and you've got to wonder if he was referring to Sundowns' Katlego Mphela, the Premiership's current joint top scorer.
Personally, I thought Chiefs were dominant in every department including finishing last night. Itumeleng Khune is getting his sharpness back, they were resolute in defence and the midfield functioned well despite the continued absence of Tinashe Nengomasha, the General in the middle of the park. More about him later.
Lucky Baloyi's goal on the half-hour from 30 yards was magnificent, and Lehlohonolo Majoro made the game safe - the former Amazulu striker is looking increasingly adept.
Though Baloyi could have scored at least two more and Bernard Parker toiled in front of goal once more, it was top referee Daniel Bennett's decision not to issue Thabani Stemmer with a red card that was the real talking point.
Watching the excellent SuperSport analyst Thomas Mlambo discuss that decision - and the third minute red card which ruined Ajax Cape Town's night against Free State Stars - was entertainment enough for anybody.
The Celtic goalkeeper was well out of his box when he reached out an arm to deny Siphiwe Tashablala a clear scoring chance with no defender in the offing. Clear red card, but the usually impeccable Bennett went for yellow. Perhaps he's colour blind or somebody had shuffled his the pack of cards in his pocket.
Perhaps VV could have focused on that decision, and allowed his players the chance to bask in a comfortable victory which puts them back in contention at fourth in the Absa Premiership. But no, he preferred to lash his hapless players for their profligacy in front of goal.
Strange. I was at a packed Loftus Versfeld on Tuesday night where goal-scoring was simply not on the agenda. Bad finishing? Ask league leaders Sundowns and champions Orlando Pirates about that. With 60,000 begging for a goal on a night of amazing atmosphere, neither side was able to produce a finish in a 0-0 draw which suited the Downs more than the Buccaneers.
And how about SuperSports United? They went in to the Christmas break looking like contenders, but a distinct lack of firepower has left Gavin Hunt's side looking like desperate also-rans after another 0-0 stalemate yesterday.
Thing is, of course, Serbian struggler VV must know his players are unhappy. His bust-up with Nengomasha appears to be ongoing - originally ruled out of the Soweto derby with injury, he is now officially suspended and didn't play last night - and the past problems with ex-captain Jimmy Tau, Josta Dladla and Abia Nale are now a matter of history.
The New Age, a paper worth picking up (especially as I now have a column running in it) ran this anonymous text message from a senior Chiefs player:"We cannot stand this guy VV. He is rude and abusive and I don't understand why the management is doing nothing as they are aware of our grievances with the coach."
Three weeks ago, I was made aware of similar sentiments in the Orlando Pirates camp. I wrote all about it on this site. Just like Itumeleng Khune today, Monieb Josephs came out and said all was well between the players and the coach. Khune told kickoff.com today: "We laugh it off. People are trying to destabilise the club." Josephs said almost exactly that when rumours surrounded his coach. Two weeks later, Julio Leal was suspended and replaced by Augusto Palacios.
VV should tread warily. He may be going the same way. With three points in the bag last night, he may have been better off not behaving like Sir Alex Ferguson.
Fergie has his players under control. VV clearly doesn't.