CHIPPA TO RECHARGE DURING PSL BREAK
Chilli Boys return for training on Monday to prepare for Baroka FC
AFTER a hectic start to the new Premier Soccer League season with back-to-back matches, Chippa United have a week’s break to recharge before their next league fixture, against Baroka FC at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on September 12.
The Port Elizabeth side opened the league with a 1-0 loss to Soweto giants Orlando Pirates – and two days later made up for that defeat when they beat comeback kids AmaZulu 2-0, at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Tuesday night.
Going on a week-long break early in the season has its pros and cons – especially with the players’ spirits on a high after the 2-0 win.
Chippa coach Dan “Dance” Malesela has the same sentiments.
“It depends on how we handle ourselves,” he said. “Sometimes these breaks help you, sometimes they sort of distract you and you can only tell when you play your first match [after the break].
“But I am hoping it’s more on the positive side.”
Malesela said the Chippa players would rest at the weekend and be back for training on Monday to prepare for the Limpopo side.
Meanwhile, new AmaZulu coach Cavin Johnson welcomes the break.
“The players have not had a day off for seven weeks. They are athletes and you have to treat them properly – you have to make sure that the whole organisation is done properly,” he said.
Although it was still very early in the season, the former Platinum Stars coach said his plan was to make sure that Usuthu remain in the PSL.
“We all have aspirations. Our main objective, as a club, is to make sure we stabilise AmaZulu, maintain our status within the PSL and celebrate 85 years of existence as best as we can,” he said.
AmaZulu’s next match is against Maritzburg United in Umlazi, Durban.
ý Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has fired a stinging rebuke at his former player, Rodney Ramagalela, after the cheeky striker said his erstwhile employers’ defenders are slow.
Ramagalela scored two goals when his new team, Polokwane City, beat Sundowns 2-1 in a league match at Loftus in Tshwane this week. The striker said he had taken advantage of a slow Sundowns rearguard.
“It’s always a nice feeling to score against your former team – even though I did not expect to score two against them‚” Ramagalela said.
“I knew I would score against them, because I studied their defence, which is very slow.”
Mosimane dismissed his former player’s utterances and said it was a pity that the striker did not display similar predatory instincts when he was still at Sundowns.
“He scored two goals and he is a hero for his team‚ leave him to have fun‚” Mosimane said. “He should have targeted that when he was with us.
“But anyway‚ he had a brilliant game and you have to give credit, because they were organised as a team.”
Ramagalela said: “I had nothing to prove against my former team because, as Polokwane City, we are on a mission to be in the top eight again.” – Additional reporting by Mahlatse Mphahlele
Sometimes these breaks help you, sometimes they sort of distract you