It caught my eye
G’day
It wouldn’t be fair or proper for me to overlook the beautiful football we saw in the semifinals of the Nedbank Cup this past Saturday. Congratulations to both TS Galaxy and Kaizer Chiefs for making it to the final and I’m sure everyone is looking forward to what should be an exciting game. It was back in 2011 when we last had a National First Division side in the Nedbank Cup final, with Orlando Pirates playing Black Leopards, after Moroka Swallows played Pretoria University in 2009 and Mamelodi Sundowns faced Mpumalanga Black Aces in 2008. What has happened is that all NFD teams have lost the Nedbank Cup final so far and it is also worth noting that it takes them longer to reach the final against their more fancied and experienced Premiership sides.
On first semi-final
We have to give credit to Galaxy for a wonderful performance against Golden Arrows as they managed to book their spot in the final. It wasn’t an easy game at all and I want to congratulate coach Dan Malesela, his technical team, players, management and everyone associated with the club for booking the spot in the final, in their maiden season in the NFD. I see coach Dan in that team and it is crystal clear to see that when he’s given an opportunity, everywhere he’s been, you can see his flair and style of play. His players are always full of confidence and are able to knock the ball around. Other coaches or people might argue the fact that his teams don’t always threaten the opposition that much, with their ball possession, but I was once on the receiving end of facing Dan’s team in 2013 and he gave us a run for our money. He’s one coach who doesn’t change his spots so to speak, and always stays true to his philosophy and what he believes in. He always manages to get the best out of South African players because of his philosophy. At Chippa United he tried to do the same and they were never an easy side to play. They were unbelievable! When we look at the primary tactical dynamics, we are talking ball movement, player movement and the tactical change. Within those dynamics, with Dan, you’re talking about a coach who masters all of them. I was one of those who might probably have thought their possession doesn’t hurt the opponents against Arrows, but his postmatch interview gave a clearer picture of what he was trying to achieve. When people keep possession so that you chase around looking for it, trust me, it tires the hell out of you. I thought his players would choke, at some points, but they just kept on going and fought throughout the game, even after they went 1-0 down. It is such a pity they’re not in the running for at least a promotional play-off spot. If they can keep that team together and use their Nedbank Cup performance as a yardstick, it won’t be long before we see them in the elite league.
On second semi-final
The game between Chippa United and Kaizer Chiefs, just like the one played earlier on the day, had everything you could think of. Let’s put the results aside and look at the flair, the never-say-die attitude from both teams and how individual players made such an impact. Chippa went 1-0 down, equalised and then took the lead, before Chiefs came back strongly. I don’t think a lot of people noticed what coach Clinton Larsen did to try and win the game, something that only tactically aware people would think of – talk about thinking on your feet! He took off a central defender, converted his right back to central defence, and brought on a right winger to play as a right back. That was simply because he had three defenders on yellow cards in Gladwin Shitolo, Zitha Macheke and Frederic Nsabiyumva, within the first 20 minutes of the game. That tactical change worked wonders because they managed to get two goals, but Chiefs fought back and scored three goals. I hear a lot of people talking about Khama Billiat’s goal, which was an unbelievable goal to score, but Bernard Parker’s goal was the best for me. It was out of this world and it takes only a genius, intellectual and an experienced individual to do what Parker did. You could tell how he moved away from the defender, saw the advancing goalkeeper, positioned himself and that brilliant finish. I’m telling you, that goal caught my eye because it was so well-taken under so much pressure. It was end-to-end stuff and there was no parking of the bus. What a game it was and I’m sure everyone enjoyed it from start to finish. Both sets of technical teams were on top of their game on the night, making things happen when it mattered most. For instance, when Chiefs lost Kabelo Mahlasela through injury – someone I expected to make things happen for the team – they brought on Dumisani Zuma who took over from where his former Bloemfontein Celtic teammate left off. The boy wasn’t even supposed to be part of the travelling squad for Chiefs, but he went on to play such an important role for the team. Tough luck to Arrows and Chippa for failing to make the final and congratulations to Galaxy and Chiefs on reaching what promises to be an exciting final.
On league so far
At some stage, I thought it was going to be a two-horse race between Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns for the league title, but that’s not the case. Anything can still happen and I would like to believe that all top four teams are still in with a chance. This has been a very interesting season and it will be interesting to see what the lost standings look like after Sundowns hosted Chippa on Tuesday afternoon. I think, come the weekend, we will have an even clearer picture of what will happen both at the top and the bottom of the log. During my playing days, I will never forget a line that coach Augusto Palacios used to like preaching to us. He said, “If you cry after the game, it was your decision to cry because you were given a chance to avoid tears and be happy, but you chose to lose.” Now, I look at the teams and thinking the same thing because everyone was given the same number of games and if you don’t want to cry after the games, you go out there and perform to win.