What the world thinks of the Soweto derby: 30th place for Kaizer Chiefs v Orlando Pirates

ACCORDING to FootballDerbies.com, South Africa's showdown between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates is not as important as South Africans like to think.

Using a points system based on atmosphere, coverage and attendance, they rate the Turkish showdown between Istanbul's arch-rivals Fenerbahce and Galatasary as the number one local footballing rivalry in the world, just ahead of Argentina's Boca Juniors v River Plate (SuperClasico) and the Old Firm derby in Glasgow between the Roman Catholics of Celtic and the Protestant Rangers (who have just been sent to the bottom tier of Scottish football after financial problems).

El Clasico? Nowhere. That's because they're not LOCAL rivals. They don't both come from the same CITY. The first list below comprises only derbies between NEIGHBOURING sides. In fact, Barcelona SC v Emelec - the big "El Clásico del Astillero" clash in Ecuador - slots in at 11th.

AmaKhosi taking on the Buccaneers rates at just 30th on the FootballDerbies list - but that's still way ahead of the Manchester derby (44) and the Merseyside derby (49). Given the game on Saturday is a sell out and Soccer City has a capacity of 94,736, there is no question where the BIGGEST game will be this weekend.

The North London derby between Arsenal and Spurs, like the Real v Atletico Madrid clash, doesn't make the top 50.

Liverpool v Manchester United ranks top of their LOCAL DERBIES, while predictably El Clasico tops the list of national rivalries.

Here's their list... see what you think.


City Derbies

1 Fenerbahce - Galatasaray                             9.4

2 Boca Juniors - River Plate                             9.3

3 Celtic FC - Rangers FC                                9.1

4 Olympiakos Piraeus - Panathinaikos              8.6

5  AS Roma - Lazio Roma                               8.5

6 Flamengo - Fluminense                                  8.5

7 Red Star Belgrade - Partizan Belgrade           8.5

8 Al Ahly - Zamalek                                         8.4

9  Penarol - Nacional Montevideo                    8.3

10 Sevilla FC - Betis Sevilla                             8.2

11 Barcelona SC - Emelec                                 8

12 Benfica - Sporting Lisbon                              8

13 CSKA Sofia - Levski Sofia                           8

14 Genoa - Sampdoria                                       8

15   Gremio - Internacional                                 8

16 Independiente - Racing Club                          8

17  Olimpia - Cerro Porteno                               8

18  Palmeiras - Corinthians                                 8

19 Universidad de Chile - Colo Colo                  8

20 AC Milan - Inter Milan                                7.8

21 Aris Saloniki - PAOK Saloniki                     7.8

22 Aston Villa - Birmingham City                      7.8

23 Bolivar - The Strongest                                7.8

24 Esteghlal - Perspolis                                     7.8

25 Vasco da Gama - Flamengo                         7.8

26 Wydad - Raja                                              7.8

27 Zeljeznicar - FK Sarajevo                            7.8

28 Dinamo Bucharest - Steaua Bucharest          7.7

29 East Bengal - Mohun Bagan                         7.7

30 Orlando Pirates - Kaizer Chiefs               7.7

31 Rosario Central - Newell's Old Boys            7.7

32 Sao Paulo - Palmeiras                                  7.7

33 Atletico Mineiro - Cruzeiro                           7.6

34 Besiktas JK - Fenerbahce                            7.6

35 Alianza Lima - Universitario                          7.5

36 Fluminense - Botafogo                                  7.5

37 Galatasaray - Besiktas JK                            7.5

38 Panathinaikos - AEK Athens                        7.5

39 Velez Mostar - Zrinjski Mostar                   7.5

40 Atletico Paranaense - Coritiba                    7.4

41 Ferencvaros - Ujpest                      7.4

42 Gimnasia - Estudiantes                  7.4

43 Hearts - Hibernian                           7.4

44 Manchester United - Manchester City                   7.4

45 Universidad Catolica - Universidad de Chile                          7.4

46 AEK Athens - Olympiakos Piraeus                             7.3

47 Boavista - Porto                                7.3

48 Club Africain - Esperance                              7.3

49 Everton - Liverpool FC                    7.3

50 San Lorenzo - Huracan                   7.3

51 Wisla Krakow - Cracovia Krakow                                7.3

52 Arsenal - Tottenham Hotspur                     7.2

53 Atletico Nacional - Independiente Medellin                         7.2

54 America de Cali - Deportivo Cali                                 7.1

55 Karsiyaka - Goztepe                        7.1

56 LKS Lodz - Widzew Lodz                                7.1

57 Santa Fe - Millonarios                     7.1

58 AIK Stockholm - Djurgardens IF                                 7

59 Atletico Madrid - Real Madrid                     7

60 Bahia - Vitoria                    7

61 Brentford FC - QPR                          7

62 Djurgardens IF - Hammarby                        7

63 Maccabi Haifa - Hapoel Haifa                       7

64 Saprissa - Alajuelense                    7

65 Spartak Moscow - CSKA Moscow                              7

66 West Ham United - Millwall FC                   7

67 Apoel Nicosia - Omonia Nicosia                  6.8

68 Sheffield Wednesday - Sheffield United                               6.8

69 Lyn - Valerenga                                 6.7

70 Dundee FC - Dundee United                       6.6

                

  Local Derbies

1 Liverpool FC - Manchester United                            8

2 Saint Etienne - Olympique Lyon                                 8

3 Sunderland AFC - Newcastle United                        8

4 Schalke 04 - Borussia Dortmund                             7.8

5 Ipswich Town - Norwich City                                 7.7

6 Southampton - Portsmouth                                      7.6

7 Cardiff City - Swansea City                                     7.5

8 Deportivo de la Coruna - Celta de Vigo                   7.4

9 West Bromwich Albion - Aston Villa                        7.1

19 Wolves - West Bromwich Albion                           7.1

20 Blackburn Rovers - Burnley                                    7

               

Rivalries

1  Barcelona - Real Madrid                                8.9

2 Hajduk Split - Dinamo Zagreb                         8.6

3 Ajax - Feyenoord                                            8.4

4 Paris St. Germain - Olympique Marseille          8.3

5  Chivas - America                                            8

6 Arsenal - Manchester United                            7.8

7 Trabzonspor - Fenerbahce                               7.6

8 Porto - Benfica                                                7.5

9 Panathinaikos - PAOK Saloniki                       7.3

10 PAOK Saloniki - Olympiakos Piraeus           7.3

11 PSV Eindhoven - Ajax                                  7.3

12 Anderlecht - Club Brugge                             7.2

13 Feyenoord - PSV Eindhoven                        7

14 PAOK Saloniki - AEK Athens                     7

15 Sporting Lisbon - Porto                                7

16 Olimpija Ljubljana - NK Maribor                 6.5

17 Sydney FC - Melbourne Victory                 6

18 Kapaz - Neftci                                           5.8

The Bafana masterplan for 2018: This is the word of Gord

The way ahead: Igesund and squad

No point in being clever here. I'm just going to quote Gordon Igesund when it comes to the "2018 South African Masterplan" he unveiled to the SAFA technical committee on Friday morning.

Everybody I've spoken to said it was one of the most impressive presentations they'd seen in the game. A real, long-term plan for Bafana Bafana. Farouk Khan, a man who knows a thing or two about football development, described it as “something I’ve never seen from a Bafana manager before.”

We had a long talk with Gordon on SportsTalk on Talk Radio 702 and Cape Talk 567 with Udo Carelse. There's no point in me adding my comments.

IT'S THE WORD OF GORD

"It’s actually very simple, I had to put through a proposal suggesting the right way for us to go. 

“We had five players in our squad who played for the South African youth teams. The great football teams in the world have 22 of their 23 who progress through the Under 19 and Under 21s.

“This is the way we have to go with our squad. Our players have to be trained and programmed to play the system the way the national team plays.

“We have to do much, much better with our development. The Under 17 and Under 19 coaches have to buy in to our senior system.

“We’ve been through difficult times. We’re trying to get a quick fix sometimes, we’ve had so many national team coaches.

WINGLESS WONDERS

“The World Cup coach we had didn’t have wingers. The next coach wanted to play another way. The style, the system is changing too much. We have to buy in to a system we can identify with. For the next six years we have to stick to a certain style. The coaches must teach our players to use that system, that style.

“So when you get a player from the Under 23 team to the national team, he will fit in completely.

“Development can’t be done in one year. It takes 10 years, 15 years. The kids don’t have enough time to adapt. We really have to apply our minds, make sure we stick to this philosophy for the next ten years.

CONTRACT KILLER

“A week ago I was supposed to sit down with the president of SAFA but I ended up in hospital with an appendix. I’m not in a big rush to sign a new contract. I’m getting huge support, the new contract will happen.

“Indications are that it is exactly what they want. It will be no problem.

“I want a team that squeezes the opposition. We want to play 4-3-3 with three strikers, one very attacking midfielder. Against Mali we were outstanding, and Morocco. We had more possession, more attacks than any other team in the competition.

“We have great youngsters coming through, Mahlangu, Furman, Serero. This is not something new, Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates play like this. Possess it, move forward quickly, don’t give it away. The blueprint is out there, as time goes on, people are going to be able to identify South African football.

“This is not a Gordon Igesund brand of football. This is South African. Like you can identify Dutch or German football.  We’ve got to hone it, play attractive football.

“We have to identify players too. We had a bit of a problem. Too many similar players up front. We have to develop it in our Under 17 team, show a striker how to play with his back to goal.

“We were the highest scoring team in our group at AFCON, not bad for a team that couldn’t score goals before the competition.

“You can’t expect to score goals if you only push forward three or four times in a game. For a team that hadn’t won in years in the AFCON, we changed things. That’s where we want to get to.

 IS IT IN THE GENES?

“High pressure. Sprinting. Stop, start. But we weren’t fit enough. I realised that was our problem. Our players have the fitness to run the Comrades Marathon but not the anaerobic fitness, the stop-and-start ability to keep going.

“That’s not naturally in our make-up. The short stuff. The 10m sprints. We’re not genetically built for that. It’s something we have to learn.

“We’ve been out of world football for far too long. We need to get it right from an early age.

“Our youngsters have to be able to play this way, a pressing game. Against Mali, we started to tire, we weren’t tight… they scored. And they won on penalties.

“We can produce world class players again. Look at our history. In the Confederations Cup, we held Spain. We’ve played the top teams in the world.

“The last 10 years or so, there’ve been so many changes. Too many short term fixes. Whether Gordon Igesund or Joe Soap is in charge, we have to develop our philosophy, work on that.

“In ten years from now, we’ll see a huge difference. Anaerobic training from a young age. Dean Furman and May Mahlangu, both playing in Europe, ran 15 and 16km in a match. Most only do 12km. And they were able to do 50 to 60 sprints, local players could only do 10 or 20 sprints.

“Tactically, we can’t play a squeezing game with our local players. We have to start scientifically get our players to a level of fitness. From an early age.

ON THE SAME PAGE

“Our junior coaches, our Under 17 and Under 21 coaches, we all need a common goal. Spain, Portugal, Germany… their squads, of the 23, each had 22 who had come through Under 17, Under 21. Each trained to play a certain way.

“My squad had 14 players who have never seen a South African youth team.

“We need to have the best coaches in there, people who have played football, know the game, able to work.

“Whether it’s me or somebody else, as head coach, I need to tell all the other coaches how we’re going to do it. For Under 20, for Under 23.

“Then all of a sudden we’re on the same page. This is hugely important.

“I’ve only just unveiled my master plan. I can’t reveal it all. There are a lot of names I’ve mentioned, people I’d like to work with. I know the coaches of want, of course I do. But it’s a bit early to name names.”

And there it is. In tablet form. The word of Gord.

This article appeared as my Neal & Pray column in The New Age this week. You can follow me on twitter at @nealcol, watch me on eTV Sunrise and eNCAnews every Monday - or simply go to www.702.co.za every night of the week, where I produce SportsTalk with Udo Carelse.

Killing giants explained: How to produce Roy of the Rovers Cup upsets in THREE EASY STEPS

Pirates plundered: Mashale Rantabane

By an extraordinary stroke of good luck, I can explain to all those tiny teams out there, worldwide, who hope to produce a Roy of the Rovers Cup upset EXACTLY HOW TO ACHIEVE THEIR MIRACLE in three easy steps.

Yes, you’re a bunch of amateurs from, say, Maluti Further Education and Training College in a place called Phuthaditjhaba in an area with mysterious clicks called Qwa Qwa… and you play in the rather modest Free State Second Division.

(Note: Phuthaditjhaba (formerly Witsieshoek, is a seSotho name that means meeting place of the tribes. It is located on the banks of the Elands River. Neither Wayne Rooney nor Steve Pienaar have ever heard of it).

You’re a bunch of amateurs and you’ve been drawn in the FA Cup, Copa de la Ray or even the Nedbank Cup against the all-conquering multi-million conglomerate that has just won your country’s domestic League TWICE in succession.

People wear their replica shirts on every corner of every town, including Phuthadijhaba (or Witsieshoek/Whitey's corner).

Okay, let’s go a step further. Into the realms of impossibility. You’re playing Orlando Pirates, winner of SIX trophies in just two seasons. They haven’t lost in 12 games, they’re top of the Professional Soccer League – or will be if they win their game in hand over Kaizer Chiefs. Oh, and last week, the Buccaneers won their opening game of the African Champions League FIVE NIL!

So how do you beat The Sea Robbers? On my new show SportsTalk which I produce for Talk Radio 702 and Cape Talk 567 every night at 8pm, we spoke to Morena Ramoreboli, who is indeed in charge at Maluti FET College.

When I set him up for the interview with presenter Udo Carelse on Friday, I asked him: What are your chances? It was of course, a trick question. They didn’t have a chance.

To my surprise, rather than the modest and inevitable “we haven’t got a bloody hope”, Morena said: “We have a huge chance to beat them. We have prepared for this.”

With the wry smile of the hard-bitten former Fleet Street journalist, I set him up for his big interview. This is what he said. Word for word. We giggled in the studio. Nice bloke, hasn’t got a hope.

And they went on to win 4-1 against Roger de Sa’s shocked Buccaneers. Yes. 4-1. Against a side expecting a sixth successive clean sheet for Senzo Meyiwa. Against a side with Zimbabwe's TakeSure Chinyama and Zambia's Collins Mbesuma, a team that doesn’t show much concern about not having last year’s title-winning top-scorer Benni McCarthy available.

So in effect, read these words from Mr Ramoreboli.

THEY HOLD THE KEY TO BEATING ORLANDO PIRATES or MANCHESTER UNITED or BAYERN MUNICH or BARCE-BLOODY-LONA!

“I can say I am excited but I am a bit worried about the way we are going to perform tomorrow.

“Obviously there’s a lot at stake and we want to win.

“I am worried. Will the players be at their best tomorrow or what?

“You know last season, we had a dream and we discussed this. But we did not win the League or qualify for Nedbank.

“This season things went according to our plan. To us it was not a miracle, it was not a surprise. We knew this would be our season, that we might play against these bigger teams.

“We have tried our level best to condition our players to do well against Orlando Pirates, physically and mentally.

“We have looked at some videos. What we know about Orlando Pirates, everybody knows. They won’t change their structure of the way they play. They may change players, but not tactics.

“Obviously when you play a big team there are three thingsyou have to take in to consideration.

“ONE you must make sure they don’t play the kind of football THEY want.”

“TWO you must make sure they play each and every ball where you can see it.”

“THREE every time you win the ball you must make sure that you play quickly away from the area you have won the ball from.”

“Then we’ll do well against bigger teams. I’m telling you. That’s football. There are moments in football, and we must treat them very seriously.

“If we don’t have the ball we must switch on and defensive.

“If we have the ball, we must go on and attack.

“To be honest with you, with have some very good players, very young, very talented. We have a good man-marker Mashale Rantabane (he scored twice on Saturday). We won’t have any problem dealing with their top strikers.

“Pirates always congest the midfield, we must always make sure we don’t give them space where they have numbers.

“We have Lucky Mokoena up front (he also scored twice on Saturday). And a young boy, Godfrey Niels. He’s the next Benni McCarthy. I believe he will be that good.

“Obviously we want to win. I will be interviewed today like you are doing now, I won’t be honest if I say I don’t believe I can do well and get what I want.”

I spoke to Morena again after the game. He just laughed: “You didn’t believe me. I told you we could win! I am very excited. We are all excited. If you prepare properly, you can all be winners.”

I’m not arguing. And woe betide the side drawn against Maluti FET College in the next round of the Nedbank Cup. Especially if you’re an AmaKhosi who’s been making fun of the Pirates.

Even Kaizer Chiefs aren’t safe!

This column forms the bulk of my Neal and Pray column in The New Age on Tuesday. www.thenewage.co.za