South African Sports News – 14 April

Parreira con­cerned about fit­ness levels ahead of 2010
With the 2010 World Cup less than 60 days away Bafana Bafana coach Carlos Alberto Parreira is gen­er­ally happy with the pro­gress of his team although he admits their gen­eral fit­ness levels are not where they should be at this stage of pro­ceed­ings. The 67-year-old coach has recently returned from Brazil, where he held a train­ing camp for the national side, which saw them win most of their games against local league sides.

“The one thing that we achieved at the train­ing camp in Brazil was to identify a style of play­ing for the national team,” said Parreira. “The side now have a shape and the play­ers know what is required from them. However, the phys­ical fit­ness should be much higher than where it is now,” he added ...

“Right now the bottle is half full because we are halfway ready towards being fully pre­pared for the World Cup. I say half full instead of half empty because I am optim­istic about the way we are pre­par­ing for the World Cup,” said Parreira.

“So far, the Brazil camp was a pos­it­ive start and it doesn’t mat­ter what team we played against there because even a second divi­sion team in Brazil can give a good chal­lenge to any team from any­where in the world,” he added.

The Bafana squad left for Germany on Monday where they will play a series of matches against Bundesliga sides on April 20, 22 and 24 before tack­ling China on April 28. They are sched­uled to return to South Africa on April 30 where they will begin their final train­ing camp, which is sched­uled to begin on May 5.

“The match against China is just what the side needs to go higher in their per­form­ance level,” said Parreira. “China has great fight­ing spirit, speed and accel­er­a­tion and I would have liked more friend­lies against teams like that,” he added.

A num­ber of overseas-based play­ers are expec­ted to join the Bafana train­ing camp in May and Parreira said that once they arrive there will be a vast improve­ment in the per­form­ance of the squad. “Those play­ers over­seas bring exper­i­ence to the squad and we’ll see a higher level of per­form­ance just as we saw in the Confederations Cup last year,” exclaimed Parreira.

South African Football Association (Safa) CEO Leslie Sedibe said in addi­tion to the games against China on April 28 and Denmark on June 5, he hoped to secure a friendly against Argentina before Bafana kick off their World Cup cam­paign against Mexico in Johannesburg on June 11. “We are work­ing hard to get Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and other South American coun­tries to play us before the World Cup,” explained Sedibe.

About 13 or so of the play­ers who were in Brazil should make the final World Cup squad.

Current Bafana squad
Goalkeepers: Moeneeb Josephs, Itumeleng Khune, Shu-Aib Walters.
Defenders: Matthew Booth, Siboniso Gaxa, Siyanda Xulu, Innocent Mdledle, Bongani Khumalo, Thabo Nthethe, Siyabonga Sangweni, Lucas Thwala.
Midfielders: Franklyn Cale, Surprise Moriri, Lebohang Mokoena, Daylon Claasen, Lance Davids, Andile Jali, Teko Modise, Thanduyise Khuboni, Reneilwe Letsholonyane, Siphiwe Tshabalala.
Strikers: Gert Schalkwyk, Katlego Mashego, Katlego Mphela and Siyabonga Nomvete (pic­tured right).

Chiefs down Ajax to clinch Telkom cup
Kaizer Chiefs made the most of their oppor­tun­it­ies to record a 2–1 win over Ajax Cape Town in the Telkom Knockout final in Durban on Saturday. Strikes from Mandla Masango and Knowledge Musona (pic­tured) secured vic­tory for the Amakhosi while Ajax could only muster a late goal from Diyo Sibisi in reply.

The match could by no means be described as an action packed spec­tacle with both teams mak­ing a lot of mis­takes and pro­du­cing some rather ordin­ary foot­ball at times, but the major­ity of fans at the Absa Stadium, most of them Chiefs sup­port­ers, would not be unhappy with the result.

Ajax applied pres­sure early, obvi­ously with the intent of for­cing mis­takes thereby cre­at­ing oppor­tun­it­ies for a quick goal. Demonstrating plenty of pace and pur­pose in attack, the Urban Warriors should have opened the scor­ing after just 10 minutes, but Dipsy Selolwane’s power­ful shot was tipped over the cross­bar by Chiefs keeper Arthur Bartman who had an excel­lent game and scooped the man of the match award.

The Urban Warriors had another oppor­tun­ity to go in front shortly after­wards, but Denis Ivanovs some­how man­aged to push his header wide with the goal at his mercy. A superb pass from George Maluleka then set up Selolwane on goal, but the nippy striker took too long to unleash his shot allow­ing the ath­letic Bartman time to get in line and block his effort.

Although Chiefs had barely mustered an attack in the open­ing minutes of the game they took the lead in the 20^th minute when a potent shot from Punch Masenamela was par­ried by Hans Vonk straight into the path of Mandla Masango, who slammed the ball into the back of the net from eight yards out.

One-nil to Chiefs was how it stayed till the inter­val, but the Soweto out­fit came out smoking in the second half and went 2–0 up shortly after the restart when Musona clin­ic­ally pun­ished a blun­der from Ajax defender Clayton Daniels.  The Urban Warriors had another chance to pull one back 10 minutes later, but Ivanovs squandered the chance when he made a mess of another header.

The Amakhosi then had an excel­lent oppor­tun­ity to go 3–0 ahead when a pic­ture per­fect cross from Jimmy Tau found Masango on goal. However, the striker some­how man­aged to put the ball over the bar from less than five yards out.

Sensing that the door was still open for them to stage a fight-back, Ajax threw everything they had into attack and Diyo Sibisi finally opened their account in the 85^th minute when he rifled the ball home after Bartman failed to hold onto a cross. The Urban Warriors then tried des­per­ately to find the equal­iser, but the Chiefs defence held firm to secure them the trophy.

Although the Professional Soccer League (PSL) and the Telkom Knockout com­pet­i­tions are now over, the action con­tin­ues when the Nedbank Cup gets under­way today with three matches being played in vari­ous parts of the coun­try. PSL cham­pi­ons SuperSport United must start as favour­ites for the tour­na­ment although they will face stiff com­pet­i­tion from the likes of Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Ajax.

Fixtures
Today
Platinum Stars vs Als Puk Tawana – Olen Park – 7.30pm
Thanda Royal Zulu vs Peace Lovers FC (Safa) – Chatsworth Stadium – 7.30pm
Orlando Pirates vs Bloemfontein Celtic – Orlando Stadium – 7.30pm

Friday
Nathi Lions vs Bidvest Wits – Chatsworth Stadium – 8pm
Saturday
Ajax Cape Town vs Wings United – Newlands Stadium – 3pm
Santos vs Jomo Cosmos – Boland Rugby Stadium – 3pm
M Tigers FC vs Black Leopards – Mehlareng Stadium – 3pm
University of Pretoria vs Vasco Da Gama – LC De Villiers – 3pm
Tower United vs Free State Stars – Botshabelo Stadium – 6pm
Maritzburg United vs AmaZulu – Harry Gwala Stadium – 8.15pm
Moroka Swallows vs Golden Arrows – Dobsonville Stadium – 8.15pm
Sunday
Mr Price Parkhurst vs Winners Park – Erica Park – 3pm
Island FC vs Sundowns – Ulundi Stadium – 3pm
SuperSport United vs Kaizer Chiefs – Rand Stadium – 3pm
Ikapa Sporting vs FC Cape Town – Ajax Ikamva – 3pm
FC Royals vs MP Black Aces – Dutywa Stadium/TBC – 3pm

Stormers steady ship with win over Blues
The Vodacom Stormers bounced back from their nar­row 16–15 loss to the Western Force in their pre­vi­ous Super 14 out­ing with a well-deserved 33–21 vic­tory over the Blues in Auckland on Saturday.

Although the Cape out­fit were some­what shaky in defence and con­ceded more than two tries in a match for the first time this sea­son, their excel­lent pack of for­wards laid the found­a­tion for their win as they moved to fourth pos­i­tion on the log. They are now two points clear of the Reds who out­classed the hap­less Lions 41–26 in Johannesburg on the same day.

The Stormers raced to a 20–0 lead after 30 minutes and after that they were never less than nine points ahead of the Blues. Not only did the Stormers do well up front they also dom­in­ated the lin­eout with their tower­ing lock Andries Bekker (pic­tured far right) stand­ing out with a com­mand­ing display.

The Cape side also reigned supreme at the break­downs with cap­tain Schalk Burger, flanker Francois Louw and eighth man Duane Vermeulen all play­ing vital roles in ensur­ing that many Blues attack­ing oppor­tun­it­ies ended up turn­ing into go-forward ball for the visitors.

Early pres­sure from the Stormers res­ul­ted in the home team con­ceded a pen­alty which was duly slot­ted by fly­half Peter Grant to make it 3–0 after just five minutes. Stormers full­back Gio Aplon then got into the action by ignit­ing a counter-attack in which sev­eral play­ers handled the ball before centre Jaque Fourie wriggled through to score a con­ver­ted try.

The vis­it­ors were now 10–0 up after almost as many minutes and then went fur­ther ahead when Dewaldt Duvenage dot­ted down after they had won yet another lin­eout. Grant’s con­ver­sion made it 17–0 after 20 minutes and then 20–0 a few minutes later when he added a pen­alty, and it looked as though the Stormers were gear­ing up to steam­roll their New Zealand opponents.

However, the Blues had a sur­prise in store for the Stormers when Isaiah Toeava counter attacked from deep inside his own half and then off­loaded to Serge Lilo who dot­ted down for an excel­lent try. The score appeared to give the Blues the con­fid­ence they were lack­ing earlier on in the game, and they star­ted to play with more free­dom against the vis­it­ors. Nevertheless the Stormers kept their com­pos­ure go into the inter­val with a com­mand­ing 20–7 advantage.

The Blues really needed to score first in the second half if they hoped to ser­i­ously threaten the Stormers but it was the Cape out­fit who struck first with another pen­alty from Grant, to make the score 23–7. Luke McAlister then took advant­age of an over­lap to score a con­ver­ted try for the home side, and sud­denly the defi­cit had been reduced to just nine points after 51 minutes.

McAlister’s try seemed to swing the momentum in favour of the Blues but when their fly­half Stephen Brett missed a rel­at­ively simple pen­alty kick, one sensed this just wasn’t going to be the Blues’ day. The Stormers then exten­ded their lead to 16 points when replace­ment lock Anton van Zyl ran 30m to score in the corner after latch­ing onto a loose ball.

With time run­ning out and the Blues forced to play catch up rugby, the res­ult was never in doubt although the home side did hit back with an excel­lent try from wing Joe Rocokoco with 15 minutes still to play. However, the ever-accurate Grant banged over another pen­alty five minutes later to cre­ate a 12-point buf­fer and there­after there was simply no way back for the Blues as the Stormers retained pos­ses­sion to shut them out in the final 10 minutes.

Scorers
Stormers 33: Tries – Jaque Fourie, Dewaldt Duvenhage, Anton van Zyl. Conversions – Peter Grant (3). Penalties – Grant (4).
Blues 21: Tries – Serge Lilo, Luke McAlister, Joe Rokocoko. Conversions – Stephen Brett (3).

Other res­ults (From left to right; SA teams in bold)
Friday
Chiefs 19 – Vodacom Bulls 33 – Hamilton
Saturday
Highlanders 27 – Western Force 41 – Queenstown
Crusaders 20 – Waratahs 13 – Christchurch
Brumbies 61 – Vodacom Cheetahs 15

They are some very inter­est­ing Super 14 clashes com­ing up this week­end with the Stormers tak­ing on the sev­enth placed Chiefs in Hamilton on Friday, and the top of the table Bulls doing battle with the fifth paced Reds in Brisbane on Saturday. Both the Stormers and the Bulls have done South Africa proud in the com­pet­i­tion thus far, but will be up against stiff oppos­i­tion in the form of the Reds and the Chiefs who have also enjoyed good cam­paigns this year.

However, the same can­not be said for the rest of the South African Super 14 teams with the Lions, Cheetahs and Sharks cur­rently lying in 14^th, 13^th and 10^th places respect­ively. The Cheetahs and Lions have been in abysmal form this sea­son, while the Sharks are on a three game win­ning streak after los­ing their open­ing five matches.

Upcoming fix­tures (SA teams in bold)
Friday
Chiefs vs Stormers – Hamilton – 9.35am
Brumbies vs Hurricanes – Canberra – 11.40am
Saturday
Blues vs Western Force – Auckland – 7.30am
Crusaders vs Cheetahs – Christchurch – 9.35am
Reds vs Bulls – Brisbane – 11.40am
Lions vs The Sharks – Coca-Cola Park, Johannesburg – 5.05pm

Simphiwe clings onto IBF belt with draw
South African Simphiwe ‘The Golden Master’ Nongqayi (pic­tured right) retained his International Boxing Federation (IBF) super-flyweight title when he drew with Frenchamn Malik Bouziane in Massy, France, on Friday night. Judges Neville Holz and Klaus Griesel both scored the excit­ing bout 114–114 while judge Alfred Asaro had it 115–113 for the Frenchman.

Bouziane increased the tempo in the later rounds and Nongqayi had to pull out all the stops to sur­vive and hang onto his title. There were no knock­downs dur­ing the course of the 12 round bout.

The crafty Nongqayi, 38, caused a major upset in Mexico in September last year when he defeated Mexican legend Jorge Arce on points to cap­ture the vacant belt. His record now stands at 16–0-1 (6 KO’s) while the 32-year-old Bouzianne slipped to 13–1-1 with just one early win.

In other inter­na­tional fight action, Francois ‘The White Buffalo’ Botha suffered only the fifth defeat of his career when former undis­puted heavy­weight cham­pion Evander ‘The Real Deal’ Holyfield stopped him in the eighth round in Las Vegas on Saturday night. The 47-year-old Holyfield, who turned pro­fes­sional way back in 1984, was behind on two of the three judges score­cards at the time of the stoppage.

Botha, 41, was hav­ing his first out­ing of the year after bat­tling to a draw with Pedro Carrion of Cuba in his last fight in October. The gutsy South African was doing well against his more illus­tri­ous oppon­ent until he was vis­ibly shaken by a solid com­bin­a­tion from Holyfield in the sev­enth round.

Holyfield, sens­ing that the fight was his for the tak­ing, turned up the heat early in the next round and when a vicious right to the chin sent Botha crump­ling to the can­vas, ref­eree Russell Mora was forced to wave pro­ceed­ings over at 55 seconds of the round. It was a cour­ageous, but ulti­mately futile effort from Botha who has been box­ing as a pro­fes­sional for 20 years and once held the IBF heavy­weight title in 1995.

“Holyfield has got the skills. He’s got the determ­in­a­tion,” said Botha. “He landed his shots. He’s a true war­rior. I didn’t feel ashamed los­ing to a great cham­pion like him,” he added. Holyfield, who is prob­ably only still fight­ing because of his well-documented fin­an­cial prob­lems, improved to 43–10-2 with 28 knock­outs while Botha sunk to 47–5-3, also with 28 wins via the short route.

The ‘Real Deal’ said after the fight that he plans to become undis­puted heavy­weight cham­pion once again although this is very unlikely given his largely unim­press­ive per­form­ance against Botha, who is not in the same league as any of the recog­nised heavy­weight cham­pi­ons. Wladimir Klitschko (WBO and IBF), Vitali Klitschko (WBC) and David Haye (WBA) would all be too much for Holyfield to handle at this stage of his career and he would be well advised to retire before he risks ser­i­ous injury.

Holyfield’s vic­tory earned him the lightly regarded World Boxing Federation (WBF) belt, but it was only his eighth win in his last 17 fights and his first since June 2007 when he was awar­ded a unan­im­ous points decision over jour­ney­men Lou Saverese. The American legend then lost decisions to former world heavy­weight cham­pi­ons Sultan Ibragimov and Nikolay Valuev before defeat­ing Botha.

Meanwhile, in fight action which took place on local shores, Xola Sifama was crowned South African fly­weight cham­pion when he knocked out Anele Makhwelo in the sixth round in East London on Friday night. Sifama, who hails from nearby Duncan Village, launched a furi­ous attack on the pre­vi­ously unbeaten Makwhelo prompt­ing ref­eree Siya Vabuza to wave the con­test over at 55 seconds of the round.

Makhwelo was hold­ing his own against Sifama at the time of the stop­page and had won at least two of the first five rounds, but in the end it was Sifama’s harder punches that brought the fight to an early con­clu­sion. Both box­ers demon­strated good speed, move­ment and bal­ance dur­ing the con­test and the enthu­si­astic crowd cer­tainly got their money’s worth.

The title used to belong to Moruti Mthalane, but he relin­quished it after win­ning the IBF fly­weight belt in November last year. Makhwelo’s record dropped to 9–1 with four knock­outs while the new cham­pion improved to 8–2-1 with five early wins.

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Photo Credits:
Parreira con­cerned about fit­ness levels ahead of 2010 — Photo – Siyabonga Nomvethe — Source – south-africa-tours-and-travel.com
Chiefs down Ajax to clinch Telkom cup — Photo – Knowledge Musona — Source – kaizerchiefs.com
Stormers steady ship with win over Blues — Photo – Andries Bekker — Source – abc.net.au
Simphiwe clings onto IBF belt with draw — Photo – Simphiwe Nongqayi — Source – life.com