KZN is lit!

For the past month, KZN has been lit on the football front. I’m saying KZN is lit because of the progress of the coaches that are in charge of the KZN-based teams. It has been long overdue for that province to get back to where they belong on the South African football map. They’re now showing their true quality and I’m talking about Golden Arrows and AmaZulu FC, although Maritzburg United have not had it easy at all so far this season.

KZN has always been one of the best provinces when it comes to producing top-quality footballers, coaches, officials, icons and legends. Over the last couple of years, that has not been happening, but it looks like they’ve finally got that wake-up call. Something good is happening in KZN! That province produced the likes of the late Cedric Xulu, Ten-Ten Nzimande, Professor Ngubane, Bizzah Dlamini and many other greats. I’m looking at coach Mandla Ncikazi and what he’s doing at Arrows, together with Mabhudi Khenyeza and the rest of his technical team, after being afforded the head coaching job. It has been great to see because he’s run with the opportunity. He has turned that team into a force to be reckoned with. What I like the most is the fact that, while they are doing well, they have not lost their identity. They continue to promote young players every season and this team is very good in all moments of the game. They are an energetic team that works for one another. It takes them seconds to get to the opposition’s final third and that takes a lot of work. Coach Ncikazi is a very humble soul, who is always looking to put a smile on people’s faces. He’s always calm and is very knowledgeable. It gives me goosebumps to watch him become one of the household names in the game because he’s played a significant role in setting the bar high.

You look at their growth and the results they’ve been getting. You can’t help but admire them because they’re reaping their rewards now. They’ve now won the Q-Innovation and that speaks volumes about their performances. You don’t just win that award without excellence. That’s why KZN is on fire! Still on coaches making their mark, you look at another young coach in Benni McCarthy, who has transformed AmaZulu into a strong contender. I would like to believe what they’ve done so far is only the beginning of good things to come for that team. He brought his own technical team, a lot of quality. Vasili Manousakis, Siyabonga Nomvethe and Moeneeb Josephs bring a lot of quality to that team and it is wonderful to see them contributing so well to the club’s progress. These are some of the humblest people you will find in the game, despite everything they’ve achieved in their careers. Take nothing away from Benni’s predecessor, Ayanda Dlamini, who has also done a great job until his resigned. He had a newly-assembled team and it was always going to take time for this to start taking shape. On paper, AmaZulu never deserved to be where they were, but if you know the game, you will understand why they were struggling. I’m not surprised to see them where they are and credit to Benni and his technical team. Remember they made it clear that anyone who wanted to play for Usuthu had to raise their hands or face the possibility of leaving the club. The players responded so well and they respected the call from the coach. There’s nothing I love more in football than a coachplayer relationship that is excellent because it means the club’s brand doesn’t suffer, the supporters don’t get hurt and that’s exactly what is happening at the two KZN teams I’m talking about.

I don’t think we give them enough recognition and love for their performances.

It is really good to see coaches doing well and how can I not mention coach Brandon Truter? I’ve seen him travel in this coaching journey, falling and picking himself up. I have watched him try things and coming close to breaking through and remaining focused. This man is not new to South African football and if you look at what he has achieved at Swallows FC, with limited resources compared to other teams … and I’m not taking anything away from Swallows, you have to give the man credit. This team was almost relegated to the ABC Motsepe League at one stage. He arrived at Swallows and turned things around immediately. You’d expect them to be fighting relegation or battling to secure their status in the elite league after promotion, but look at them now, consistently in the Top Eight bracket.

When we look at these guys as a country, as football associations and football clubs, what do our locals need in order to follow in the footsteps of coach Pitso Mosimane? “Jingles” has done wonders and his wins at Al Ahly are our wins and we all get goosebumps when we watch his coaching career unfolding the way it has been doing. Now, look at the three coaches I have mentioned and see what they’ve done with the new lease on life that they’ve been given. You also look at the three gentlemen at Chloorkop (Manqoba Mngqithi, Rhulani Mokwena and Steve Komphela) – they’ve kept the fire burning against all odds. Not many people gave them a chance after the departure of coach Pitso and look at their team now. They’ve worked so hard together, no egos or fear, because they are focusing on getting the best out of their players and understand that this is not about individuals. Sundowns went for coaches who have travelled this route instead of people who would need time to learn and settle down. These guys have crawled, walked and are now running. When you talk about assembling a quality technical team, coach Pitso was recently ill and Cavin Johnson took over the team and Pitso had nothing to worry about because he didn’t just take anyone but an equally competent assistant coach and not a ball-boy. Sir Alex Ferguson had Carlos Queiroz as his assistant at one stage and he never felt threatened by him and they worked well together. If you want to succeed in this game, you don’t cut corners or feel threatened by people who are supposed to help you.

I’m just so sorry for Joel Masutha who has done it all, in difficult circumstances, and he kept the team going. He was a father-figure to those players and it is such a pity that he’s unemployed today. I take my hat off for him because he was one brave individual who took the bull by the horn. I wish him everything of the best going forward.

Since the beginning of the 2019/20 season, Mbappe and Haaland have scored a combined 28 goals in the UEFA Champions League while Ronaldo and Messi have struck a mere 15 times in the tournament during that same timeframe. At just 22 years old, Mbappe has already found the back of the net on 154 occasions in his senior club and international career, and Haaland, who only turns 21 in July, has struck 90 times. For context on just how lethal the Paris Saint-Germain and Borussia Dortmund forwards are, Ronaldo and Messi were both 22 years old when they brought up their 100th career goals, while Mbappe reached that milestone at 20 years and 173 days old and Haaland looks set to achieve it well before his 21st birthday. In the Champions League alone, Mbappe has already scored 24 goals, six more than Haaland, whose brace in Dortmund’s 3-2 away victory over Sevilla last week saw him break two records. The Norwegian striker became the fastest player to reach 17 strikes in the competition, and the quickest player to score 10 times for a single club in the tournament, doing so in just seven appearances for Dortmund.

Speaking after the game, the former Molde and Red Bull Salzburg talent said, “When I saw Mbappe score the hat-trick, I got free motivation, so thanks to him”, a leaf right out of Messi and Ronaldo’s book! While those comments might have come from an honest place, there was an off-field quarrel between Mbappe and Haaland in early 2020 that could lead some to believe that the Dortmund forward thanking the Frenchman for motivation could also be tongue-in-cheek. After BVB beat PSG 2-1 in the first leg of their round of 16 encounter in the 2019/20 Champions League in February last year, a Snapchat image of Haaland containing the caption “my city, not yours”, did the rounds on social media but later turned out to be fake. Before knowing the picture did not come from Haaland, PSG players, including Mbappe and Neymar, celebrated by mocking the then-19-year-old’s signature meditation celebration when they turned the tie around in the second leg in Paris. Asked if their antics bothered him, Haaland responded, perhaps sarcastically: “No, not really. I think they helped me a lot to get meditation out in the world and to show the whole world that meditation is an important thing, so I’m thankful that they helped me with that.”

Mbappe, though, has already won 10 trophies at club level – one with AS Monaco and nine since joining PSG – as well as the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Haaland, in comparison, has only managed to lift three titles, back in his time with RB Salzburg. He seems to be driven by success and if Dortmund cannot offer him a chance at silverware, he will probably leave the Bundesliga side sooner rather than later.

Where do they go next?

Rumours tend to surround the biggest names in football, and Mbappe and Haaland have it no differently. Mbappe’s contract in France expires in 2022, leading many to believe his time at the Ligue 1 giants could be coming to an end sooner rather than later. However, would any club be able to afford his reported €200 million (R3.5 billion) price tag in a pandemic-hit economy? Real Madrid are most heavily linked with his signature, but might not be able to fork out for him despite being one of the richest clubs in the world, and thus, for the Spanish giants to land Mbappe, it might require the forward choosing not to extend his current deal in Paris, although going that route could be detrimental to the player’s relationship with fans and his colleagues.

For Haaland, it appears likely he will leave Dortmund within the next year-and-a-half, with his contract understood to contain a buyout clause. While it was previously thought that the fee of €75 million (R1.3 billion) was active from 2021, new reports suggest interested parties can only look to trigger that option in 2022. This, of course, does not mean clubs will not be after his services at the end of the current season, but instead that he would command a bigger fee. Due to his quick rise and extraordinary potential, most clubs would see €75 million as a bargain for a striker of his calibre, but who will land his signature? Haaland is admired by almost every top football franchise in Europe, including Manchester United and Chelsea, while FC Barcelona and Los Blancos are looking at him, too. ❐