Orlando Pirates could win CAF Champions League 2012

Of all South African teams to participate in CAF champions league in the past 10 years, Pirates has got the easiest path in the draw that was made few days ago for next year’s Champions league tournament.

Here’s their path:Preliminary round: They are will fight it out with Clube Recreativo Desportivo do Libolo from Angola
First qualifying round: They will play with a Sunshine Stars of Nigeria
Second qualifying round: They will play a winner between Djoliba Athletic Club (Mali) and Lesotho Correctional Services (Lesotho)/Uganda Revenue Authority Sports Club (Uganda)
This is a much much “easier” draw for the Buccaneers; by “easier” I by no means mean that these matches will be walkovers but instead I compared these teams (Pirates opponents) with the ones Supersport United had to go through during the 3 years they participated in this tournament.
This year Matsatsantsa met Al Ahly in the first qualifying round, a year before that (2010) they faced the then on fire Heartland (Nigeria) in second round of qualifiers

Orlando Pirates could not have asked for a better draw than this, they only stand a possibility of meeting African club football heavyweights like the ones below in the group stages of this tournament:

- Esperance (Defending champions),
- Al Ahly (6 times CAF champions league champions and CAF club of the century),
- Etoile Sahel (2007 champions and 2004 & 2005 runners up),
- Al Hilal (3 times Champions league semi-finalists in the last 5 years),
- Al-Merreikh (2007 runners up),
- Raja Casablanca (3 times champions league winners),
- Coton Sport (2008 runner ups and 11 time Cameroonian league champions), and
- TP Mazembe (2010 champions & FIFA club world cup finalists)

Pirates has made it clear that they are going in this tournament to try by all means to win it and get their second golden star and judging by current crop of players in their books, their currect great run in cup competitions, the draw they got and the amount of silverware they have won in the past 2 years... CAF champions league & CAF confederations cup are the only 2 trophies not in their trophy cabinet and they have a shot at taking 1 of the 2.

I hereby declare that Pirates are 1 of the highly possible winners of this tournament. Their odds are 4/1... By yours truly

By Mokete Sethunya
http://twitter.com/moketesethunya

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FIFA Rankings for COSAFA region - November 2011

As it is still early days of this blog, we will be introducing new features which will add more value and make this site more informative as we progresses.

Therefore we now introduces the latest feature on the blog which is RANKINGS which will be keeping you up to date of how our countries are placed in the latest FIFA rankings, we also will be focussing on how well our countries are doing on ranked on CAF rankings as well.

As soon as FIFA releases the latest rankings we will publish them here.

Here are current rankings as released in November by FIFA

COSAFA  Country          CAF      FIFA

1           South Africa      8          53

2           Zimbabwe         16        70

3           Zambia             19        79

4           Angola              20        84

5           Malawi             21        87

6           Botswana        23        96

7           Mozambique    26        105

8           Namibia           30        121

9           Tanzania          37        136

10         Lesotho           41        148

11         Madagascar    43        157

12         Swaziland         45        179

13         Seychelles        46        183

14         Comoros          48        186

15         Mauritius         50        191

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Orlando Pirates' 75th anniversary kit launched

The players will come out in their new kit when they take on Bidvest Wits during the Telkom Knockout Final at Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium next Saturday.

"Orlando Pirates gave us a brief to develop an anniversary jersey that celebrated the rich history of the club as well as the bright and exciting future. The design inspiration came from the strip used by the all-conquering 1973 team that won all cups that were on offer in that season," says Kevin Jooste, the football category manager at Adidas South Africa, on Bucs' official website.

Adidas has also developed a special anniversary logo, using the round logo which dates back to the 50s and was used until the late 60s as inspiration.

"For the inner-neck logo we used the original logo as an inspiration with 1937 accompanying it. As a result of close interaction between adidas and the club, respecting the history and celebrating the future, we have created a jersey that all Buccaneers can be proud of," adds Jooste.


"While our focus is always on providing for the future, it is equally important that we look to commemorate our long and rich heritage. As one of the oldest football clubs in Africa, it is imperative that we celebrate these key milestones.

"With the club turning 75 next year, the Telkom Knockout Final has presented a perfect platform for Orlando Pirates Football Club to mark the beginning of the celebrations, which will be carried throughout 2012," says Mickey Modisane, Pirates PRO, on the club's official website.

The jersey will retail at a recommended price of R599 and will be available in shops from Monday, December 5.

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COSAFA Under 20 Youth Championship 2011 Fixtures

The COSAFA Youth Championship will be hosted in Gaborone, Botswana from December 1-10, 2011. The tournament will be staged at University Stadium in the capital and the Molepole Artificial turf.

GROUP A                  GROUP B                  GROUP C                          GROUP D
1. Botswana            1. Seychelles               1. Zambia                        1. Angola
2. Comoros               2. Malawi                    2.Tanzania                       2. Madagascar
3. Swaziland            3. Lesotho                   3. South Africa                  3. Namibia
4. Mozambique        4. Mauritius                4. Zimbabwe

Group Stages:
01/12/2011
Botswana vs Comores
16h00
Univ of Botswana

Swaziland vs Mozambique
18h30
Univ of Botswana

02/12/2011Angola vs Madagascar
16h00
Molepolole

Namibia vs Zimbabwe
18h30
Molepolole

Zambia vs Tanzania
14h30
Univ of Botswana

South Africa vs Mauritius
17h00
Univ of Botswana

Seychelles vs Malawi
19h30
Univ of Botswana

03/12/2011 Rest Day
- Life Skills
University Campus

04/12/2011
Comores vs Swaziland
16h00
Univ of Botswana

Mozambique vs Botswana
18h30
Univ of Botswana

Tanzania vs South Africa
16h00
Molepolole

Mauritius vs Zambia
18h30
Molepolole

05/12/2011Malawi vs Lseotho
15h00
Molepolole

Madagascar vs Namibia
18h00
Molepolole

Zimbabwe vs Angola
20h00
Molepolole

06/12/2011
Madagascar vs Zimbabwe
14h30
Univ of Botswana

Tanzania vs Mauritius
17h00
Univ of Botswana

Comores vs Mozambique
19h30
Univ of Botswana

Namibia vs Angola
14h30
Molepolole

South Africa vs Zambia
17h00
Molepolole

Swaziland vs Botswana
19h30
Molepolole

07/12/2011
Rest Day

08/12/2011 Semi Finals
Winner Group A vs Winner Group C
16h00
Molepolole

Winner Group B vs Winner Group D
18h30
Molepolole

09/12/2011
Rest Day

10/12/2011
3rd/4th place play-off
11h00
Univ of Botswana

Final
15h00
Univ of Botswana

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I refuse to accept Pitso's apology

I wish I could say good day to millions of the soccer loving community. Unfortunately this can never be a good day for me and it is all thanks to Bafana coach’s letter of apology. I read Pitso Mosimane’s apology letter over and over again with the hope of finding something that can heal this deep wound that he left in my heart. Maybe I was looking for the words ‘good bye’ from his letter, only to find salt to my wound.

What I picked up from the letter itself is that the coach had already dug an escape tunnel last year when he accepted the coaching role, this can be backed by his own words where he says (I quote) “When I accepted the honour of coaching Bafana Bafana on the 15th of July last year, I said at the time there might be a mistake or two on the journey to Brazil in 2014. And I also said at the time that I believe I have the grace and the wisdom to accept any error, correct it, and learn from it.”

The question is, how many errors should we really expect from him? How many heart-attacks should we surfer due to him? Pitso is not the one who can talk of errors and corrections.  In case Mr Pitso Mosimane forgot, let me remind him: 1. Pitso served as the care-taker coach for seven games during 2007, before Carlos Alberto Parreira was appointed as head coach. 2. He then served as an assistant coach to Parreira, before 3. serving as an assistant to Joel Santana.

4. When Santana was fired, and Perreira was re-apponted in 2009, Pitso served as assistant coach to Perreira. To sum it up, Pitso served in all three roles with Bafana, 1. Caretaker coach, 2. Assistant Coach (X2), 3. Head Coach. Unless the word ‘ENOUGH’ has lost its meaning, Pitso was given more than enough chance. Pitso I plead with you, beg you, to do what is right for our football by vacating that post. You have put the nation through enough pain please do what is right for once in your life. Your apology can only be accepted on the condition that you vacate that position.

Yours truly
Broken-hearted Broke Fan
https://plus.google.com/u/0/112581710844858620888/posts

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A disturbing reality about the man called Julio Cesar Leal

Julio Leal won 2008/2009 Nedbank Cup with Moroka Swallows but swallows was the fourth lowest scorer in the league with 32 goals. Julio Leal played good exciting carpet football at Swallows but his tactics and techniques produced least number of goals and was fired despite good football. Amazulu under Julio Leal was the lowest scorer in the PSL with 22 goals in 2006/2007 season whilst finished second from the bottom. However, Amazulu escaped the PSL’s axe after winning relegation Playoff. Now the same trend of scoring least number of goals is replicated at Orlando Pirates under his guidance. After 10 games Pirates is the third lowest scorer with 9 goals, which is a bad striking rate by Pirates standard but conversely, Pirates has the second best defensive record after conceding 7 goals which justified that indeed Pirates defend like the warriors but the downfall for the team is inability to score goals.

When Julio Cesar Leal Junior joined Pirates, he won Orlando Pirates supporters’ hearts through his tactical wisdom. In his own words “Pirates will defend like the warriors and attack like an entertainers. Wow what an inspirational assertion by a coach. Indeed the team started like a house in fire with 1 pre-season trophy and 1 official trophy but now the table has turned for Pirates as slowly but surely the Bhakaniya’s ship under the guidance of Captain Julio Leal is sinking.
The tactics and techniques of Leal are not appropriately for a team of Pirates caliber. His average and predictable tactical methodology of playing from inside instead of playing from the wings is turning Pirates into a mediocre team by compromising sufficient service delivery upfront. Pirates always dominated ball possession but they can’t translate such dominance into goals. This Leal system has already failed Pirates but he is still sticking to it. Been the defending PSL champion doesn’t mean that Leal should defend too deep by playing one striker upfront. Leal should know that the best form of defence is to attack. One of the disappointed Pirates supporter Luzuko Tshingana once sait that “It is certainly not Mvela League and neither is the PSL title’’ Now the question is where the hell is Leal leading our Pirates to.  Is it to early to press a panic button or Pirates will weather the storm and bounce back under Julio Leal… Time will tell!

Under Leal the reigning PSL champions have been far from impressive, in 10 matches, Pirates have lost three matches in the League, which is one lost short to the  same number of the game they lost when they won it last season, and are not looking like a team that will defend their title. It’s not raining but pouring at Orlando Pirates. The ship is sinking. The coach has a galaxy of quality players but his team selection leaves a lot to be desire. Chances of defending championship are very slim if the performance doesn’t improve. Julio Leal should stop implementing tactical system similar to Spanish La Liga Barcelona of players playing from inside and always cut the field from the wings to create more goalscorinng opportunities. Barcelona hardly plays from the wings and players are mastering playing from within system very well because they are ball players with array of skills coupled with best composure in front of goals.

In conclusion for the past 8 years, Julio Leal hasn’t coach a team for more than 1 season. He is a seasonal coach with a cup winning pedigree but lacks league winning reputation. I wonder, what was the criteria’s Dr Irvin Khoza used to appoint Julio Leal as his record for the past 8 years is not impressive. He is from Brazilians, the home of quality players with array of breath taking and eye-pleasing skills but the country hasn’t produce quality coach. The Brazilians coaches are only good coaching at their domestic league whilst struggled outside home. The Brazilians’ coaches have mastered the science of football but can translate that science into field of play. It is too early to press a panic button but Is Julio Leal a right coach to lead Pirates to the envisaged destination of defending a League title and wins African Championship? Time will tell

By: Mashudu Owen Mundalamo
http://www.facebook.com/mashudu.mundalamo

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New Bafana Bafana Puma kit

Puma today unveiled the new Bafana Bafana jersey that they will be wearing from now on wards to 2012, this is the second Bafana Bafana kit by Puma this year and this is really mush better that the first kit that Puma did for Bafana which many people in South Africa critised it's design and which happened to be as expensive as the FIFA world cup kits that were sold last year during the prestigeous event.
This kit has got my vote of confidance, I really adore it I don't know about you.

Bafana Bafana kit was designed by brothers Hasan and Husain Essop who are part of http://www.creativeafricannetwork.com/ commissioned to design kits inspired by their country’s heritage, culture and traditions.

South Africa will wear this kit for the first time in a 2011 Nelsom Mandela Innaugoration challenge  match against Africa's number 1 ranked Ivory Coast on November 12th.
This Bafana Bafana kit is believed that it will be priced R599 from all sports retail outlets, which is few hundreds of Rands lesser than the first Bafana Bafana Puma kit that was release few months ago. This however, is not an official word from Puma though.

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First things first

Hello everyone
Welcome to SA Soccer Blog, this blog will be focussing mainly on football activities happening on the entire Southern Africa region(COSAFA region if you like)
COSAFA region has 15 countries which includes the following countries:
- Angola
- Botswana
- Comoros
- Lesotho
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mauritius
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Seychelles
- South Africa
- Swaziland
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe

So once in a while we will have bloggers from all these countries mentioned wrighting for us and telling us about what is happening in their countries footballwise from first hand experience, so please if you reside in any of these countries and you are interested in blogging for us please just shout, it will only be pleasure to have as many contributor in this blog as possible from all the 14 COSAFA countries.

Currently there are tons of activities happening in our region that we can talk or write about in the fields of play, in the administrative offices and in the grand stands.
Just to highlight few, Botswana have just qualified for AFCON 2012 which is happening for the first time in Botswana football history, Lesotho earlier this year exported the first Lesotho born player to Europe and on the flipside South Africa which is regarded as the biggest footballing country in our region has failed in the final matchday to qualify for AFCON 2012 and therefore many South Afriocan first have been asking... in fact demanding that either Pitso Mosimane(Bafana Bafana head coach) must resign or South African Football Association(SAFA) must release him off his duties,
Namibia currently is having a battle against Confederation of African Football(CAF) regarding the use of an inegible player against them by Burkina Faso during AFCON 2012 qualifying campaign.

Let me not bombard you as this was only meant to be an introduction or preface of what this blog will be about.
I am looking forward to your feedback and contribution to this blog, our first post will be up on Monday next week and I sincerely hope that you will enjoy reading it.

Please have a safe weekend and enjoy all weekend matches that you will get a chance to watch irregard it's live from the stadium or from the comfort of your homes.

Yours truely
SA Soccer Blogger

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