Collins Mbesuma: The former Chief who saved Pirates when they needed it most

Double trouble: Collins Mbesuma has scored twice, twice

“It’s not going to be easy because Orlando Pirates have good strikers. But I will do my best.”

Those were the words uttered by Collins Mbesuma when he signed on the dotted line for Dr Irvin Khoza on August 15, 2012, a full seven years after leaving the employ of the Iron Duke’s arch-rival Kaizer Motaung.

A quick refresher course: way back in 2004/2005 Mbesuma – then barely out of his teens - scored a record 39 goals in all competitions to help Ted Dumitru’s Amakhosi pip the Bucs to the PSL title. The lad from Luanshya was hailed as the next big thing to come out of Africa.

But the European dream didn’t quite work out. Mbesuma, though wanted by Sam Allardyce at Blackburn Rovers, chose a notoriously dodgy transfer to Portsmouth, where he played just four games before things fell apart at Fratton Park.

That was followed by a loan move to Portugal’s Maritimo and an unhappy spell with Bursaspor in Turkey, where his time-keeping was called in to question amid a welter of suspensions.

Mbesuma returned to South Africa in 2008 and tried his hand with Mamelodi Sundowns and Moroka Swallows before finding his feet again at Golden Arrows in Lamontville, where he played 43 games and scored 18 goals to attract the attention of Dr Khoza and his man with the cheque book, Screamer Tshabalala.

Nobody expected much from the experienced feet (and head) of the 28-year-old Zambian, who played only a minor role in his nation’s historic African Cup of Nations triumph last year.

Mbesuma’s best days were behind him, we were told. And they came in the gold-an-black half of Soweto. In that emotional Zambian AFCON triumph last year, Mbesuma played a total of 42 minutes, he was written off as past it and lacking commitment.

He arrived at Pirates as Augusto Palacios’s final signing, saying: “I will just have to prove myself. I want to be successful with Pirates and win things with them. I think I need competition and I know Pirates is a big team so I just want to compete.”

Compete? He’s done more than that. A lot more. With Tokelo Rantie inexplicably allowed to slip away and Takesure Chinayama and Benni McCarthy injured, Mbesuma has proved the unlikely saviour for the new Bucs coaching duo of Roger de Sa and Eric Tinkler.

When they needed inspiration while trailing promoted upstarts AmaTuks 1-0 at Loftus Versfeld a fortnight ago, it was Mbesuma who provided the goals either side of Andile Jali’s penalty to seal a much-needed 3-1 PSL victory against the unbeaten students.

And when they came up against lively Leopards in the Telkom Knock-out on Saturday, there he was again, striking both goals in a 2-0 triumph which left most people raving about the form of Lehlogonolo “Vieira” Masalesa and Sifiso Myeni, both De Sa products from his Clever Boys days.

Yes, De Sa can claim some credit for his former Witsies, but without Mbesuma’s goals, where exactly would Pirates be right now?

With last season’s top-scorer McCarthy approaching fitness and Chinyama also due to return, De Sa has only praise for Mbesuma’s unexpected revival: "I have never doubted Mbesuma's scoring abilities. We are working on improving his fitness and he is making progress. He is showing a lot of commitment and has been doing a lot of work after training."

Mbesuma bubbles: “I must thank Irvin Khoza for giving me a chance to play for Pirates when most of the experts were doubting my ability.

“I feel I have regained my old confidence and I am playing alongside players who can make my job easier, it makes me proud to play for Pirates.”

Question is: with Mbesuma scoring four goals in two games – and another in a friendly during the international break – will there be room anybody else against AmaZulu on Sunday?

A shortened version of this story appeared as my Neal & Pray column in The New Age newspaper today. See www.thenewage.co.za every Tuesday...

Rantie and Sandilands to start against Kenya as Igesund reveals secrets of Bafana camp

Mind the holes: Igesund and Parker training yesterday

GORDON IGESUND has revealed he will play former Orlando Pirates striker Tokelo Rantie and Mamelodi Sundowns goalkeeper Wayne Sandilands for the first time in the must-win friendly against Kenya tomorrow night.

The Bafana coach, under pressure just three games in to his reign after the 1-0 loss in Poland on Friday night, refuses to buckle, insisting: “I always said the first four games would be about looking at the players, coming up with a settled squad for AFCON in January. That is my priority.”

Igesund also revealed how two key players – in-form Kaizer Chiefs goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune and Orlando Pirates centre-back Siya Sangweni – had both suffered injuries while training at Nairobi’s national stadium.

A distinctly grumpy Igesund, speaking to Robert Marawa on Metro FM, said: “The conditions are not the greatest, it’s a very, very bumpy pitch.

“Siya Sangweni and Itumeleng Khune both hurt their ankles. There are holes everywhere. Both are treatable. Siyabonga will be okay I’m sure.

“I’ve asked for sand to be laid down, fill the holes up. It’s not great. I want to avoid injuries to our players and the opposition.

“Training today wasn’t great, the ball was bobbling. But it’s raining quite hard, so I’m hoping it won’t be so bumpy for the game. It might make it easier to keep possession.

“I’m definitely going to make changes, this is our whole plan for the first four games. I need to look at players, this is our last game like this.

“If we can get 75 percent of the team ready, great. We haven’t got any combinations yet. We haven’t had chance to decide how we counter-attack, defend, shuffle across. Our dead-balls… we haven’t done any of that yet.

“I want to turn this squad in to a unit, a team before January.”

Igesund, who lost 1-0 in Brazil and beat Mozambique 2-0 in  his first two games in charge, knows a win tomorrow night is imperative with Kenya ranked a lowly 128th in the world and 27th in Africa. Bafana are currently listed at 76 by FIFA and 19 by CAF, putting them 10th among the 16 qualifiers for AFCON 2013 in South Africa next year.

Igesund confirmed: “I will change three of four players. I’ll definitely start with Sandilands in goal. Rantie has to get a shout, I have to look at him. He’s the type of player I have to consider, he gets in behind defenders, he’s got pace, he’s got strength, he’s looking good in training.

“I won’t make too many drastic changes, I want to do well. Delron Buckley, with his experience, uses the ball properly, he will definitely get a chance tomorrow.”

Though Igesund bemoaned the injuries which have left him experimenting at right back, he added: “I won’t make too many changes in defence. We’ll look at Sangweni overnight. I’ll probably start with the same two centre-backs, Sangweni and Bongani Khumalo.”

Controversial selection Ricardo Nunes, the left wing-back born in Johannesburg and now playing his football in Slovakia, is likely to get another chance to prove his worth for the nation he left as an eight-year-old.

Igesund said:  “Ricardo puts a great ball in to the area. I think that’s where the game will be won tomorrow. We need to get the ball in there and get the big lads challenging.

“We’ve still got quite a bit of work to do. We will get better, obviously we will get better. We haven’t started coaching yet, the combination plays. We will create more chances.

“I wasn’t quite happy with the amount of chances we created Poland. All these little situations, every game is telling us more about our players.

“Dean Furman and Kagiso Dikgacoi I’m very happy with in midfield. They can both play as holding players. KD is getting forward for Crystal Palace in England… and in training. One can stay, one can go. We haven’t worked on these situations at the moment.

“I need sooner rather than later to get the bulk of the squad sorted out.

“It’s a good atmosphere here at the moment, everybody wants to play. That’s a very good sign, the attitude in training is good. Working hard, encouraging each other.

“The most important thing is when a team-mate respects you. That’s a big start, that’s what’s happened so far.”

Igesund revealed how he’d had a “familiarisation” session with his players while in Kenya, explaining: “I was watching training and I realised they didn’t know each other’s names. They were going er…er…er when they called for the ball. It’s normal. Some of them have never met before.

“It’s important they share rooms, find out if their team-mates married, got kids, hobbies. It’s all part of building a team that can work hard for each other, fight for each other. I want them to become friends, know that they’ve got each other’s back.

“It’s normal they didn’t know each other. When Rantie, Ndlovu came, certain players didn’t know each other. They were just whistling. They are very new to each other.

“I have given some thought to the teams that have qualified. When AFCON starts on January 19, we have to be ready for everybody, Ghana or Nigeria. There are a couple of big guns up there. Senegal getting knocked-out wasn’t a surprise. Cameroon was a bit of a shock.

“But the gap has closed, the teams in Africa are much closer together. It’s about playing well as a team, how badly do they want it?”

May Mahlangu: Sadly, South Africa's only current world class player won't be playing against the Ivory Coast on Saturday

When Bafana Bafana turn out for the Nelson Mandela Challenge against the Ivory Coast on Saturday, South Africa's best current player will be inexplicably absent.
While captain Steven Pienaar struggles to get a game for Spurs, centre-back Bongani Khumalo languishes on loan at Reading and veteran striker Benni McCarthy - 34 this week - has opted out of international football, May Mahlangu can rightly claim to be the Rainbow Nation's only world class player right now.
Currently plying his trade with Swedish outfit Helsingborgs IF, Mahlangu was awarded Sweden's Player of the Year accolade at a lavish ceremony on Monday night - barely 24 hours after scoring a wondergoal and being named Man of the Match in the Swedish Cup final last weekend.
While beleaguered Bafana coach Pitso Mosimane dithers over his selection to play Africa's No1 ranked side in Port Elizabeth this weekend, he continues to ignore Mahlangu, who has been selected for Shakes Mashaba's troubled Baby Bafana - the under 23 side formerly known as AmaGlugGlug are headed to the Olympics in London next year - for the pair of friendlies in Algeria on November 12 and 15. Sadly, due to "injuries" and "non-co-operation from the clubs" that squad currently boasts just eight players as of last night.
But that won't trouble Mahlangu, after a season which has seen his club win the Swedish League and Cup double for the first time since 1941. His performances alongside established star Adrian Gashi at the Olympia Stadium have been little short of sensational - a Scandinavian Lionel Messi some say.
Farouk Khan, the scout who first spotted Mahlangu as a talented but penniless orphan in Secunda, Mpumalanga over a decade ago, said on South Africa's 702 radio station this morning: "We spotted May early on. Both his parents had died so he came to live with us for six years.
"When Helsingborgs came along they were first interested in signing a certain striker called Siyabonga Nomvete, one of our players, about ten years ago. But when they arrived and saw the standard of our academy, they decided not to buy Nomvete and chose to invest in our teenagers instead."
Khan, who runs a scouting school known as the Stars of Africa Academy, also unearthed Tokelo Rantie, the Orlando Pirates super-sub who came to light a fortnight ago with a superb late winner against Jomo Cosmos in Port Elizabeth.
Khan added: "Helsingborgs helped us financially for some years before the Swedish Krona devalued and they had to pull out. But they always kept an eye on our youngsters. And then they asked May to go over and play. He made his debut in August 2009.
"It's been fabulous for him this season. He was the best player, never got substituted and he scored in their cup final, now he has been voted their player of the year by the players and the journalists.
"He isn't a big lad (173cm, 5ft 8in) but he is quick, very quick. And so fit. We did the usual tests on him and realised that if he wasn't a footballer, he could easily be a marathon runner. That's how impressive his fitness readings were. The best we have ever seen."
Fitness is only half of it. Last Sunday, May Sifiwe Mahlangu, 22 on May 1 (hence the name), produced that cup final super-strike, beating six defenders to find the net after starting a run from his own half as Helsingborgs beat rivals Kalmar FF 3-1 to complete a magnificent treble. They won the Super Cup at the start of the season and ran away with the Allsvenskan League title as Mahlangu played in every minute of the 26 games he was available for. His side lifted their first championship in 14 years without losing a home game and finished five points clear of nearest rivals AIK Solna as they secured a Champions League place for next season.
Helsingborg coach Conny Karlsson, installing him in the attacking midfield role at the start of the season after he played 19 games in his first term at the club, said he would build his squad around the unknown South African - and he never regretted a moment. Mahlangu scored five goals in 35 games and produced the most assists in the league.
Karlsson purred: "With Mahlangu, we have won everything you can win in Sweden this season. Somebody may match that one day, but you can't do any better."

Perhaps somebody should tell the unfortunate Pitso. While he attempts to juggle the same old bunch who failed (despite the glorious victory dance) to qualify for next year's African Cup of Nations in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, Mahlangu and Ajax Amsterdam's Thulani Serero remain with the juniors. Curious.