WHO WERE THE REAL WINNERS IN 2015?
Another year of footballl has passed, bringing with it the usual ups and downs and moments of excitement, anguish, joy and disappointment. Kaizer Chiefs impressed by winning the League title with a record points haul for a 30-match Premiership season – 69; keeping 19 clean sheets and conceding just 14 goals. Mamelodi Sundowns had to bee content with the Nedbank Cup. p. Chiefs have not found the going quite as smooth postStuart Baxter after mid-year, and face a fight to cling onto their title. Orlando Pirates enjoyed an impressive year too, as they marched the length and breadth of the African continent, striding to yet another CAF Final, before ultimately succumbing, once again, at thehe last hurdle. On the national team front, hope has flickered here and there, before invariably giving way to disappointment. The Under-17s left the nation disappointed, and perplexed at the selection process; while the Under-23s – still in action in Senegal at the time of writing – may well miss out on Olympic qualification, leaving Banyana Banyana as our only flag-bearers at Rio 2016. At senior national team level, as predicted, Shakes Mashaba took the nation on an emotional rollercoaster ride. There were more downs than ups, but the year finished brightly following that impressive friendly win in Costa Rica and the comfortable dismissal of Angola at the first stage ofWorld Cup 2018
qualification. The problem with Mashaba’s seemingly ad hoc approach to selection, training and match-day preparation is that one can never be sure which Bafana Bafana will turn up, the good or the bad. Most fans, long used to disappointment, dismiss the victories as rare moments of relief before the inevitable collapse when the going gets really tough. All in all, Chiefs’ first six
months, and Pirates’ brave African assault aside, the past year leaves us with very little sense of forward movement, of any trajectory towards greater achievement. Perhaps the only true winners are the PSL executive members who voted themselves fat bonuses. For the few, the game is truly beautiful.