TSAMAYA THIS WEEK'S SOCCER BUZZ
JUNIOR Khanye . . . anyone out there remember him? The one-time Kaizer Chiefs starlet still considers himself a footballer and, at 28, is not willing to join the ranks of premature retirees from his home town of Daveyton, such as Skaapie Malatsie and Michael Nkambule. Khanye has given his life to God and is now a staunch Zion Christian Church member — and in addition, he’s looking for yet another second chance at any football club that will take him. That’s good, we say, and if he’s genuine, then good luck.
THE referee in the Bafana v Spain game was not only so star-struck by La Roja and their walrus coach, Vicente Del Bosque, that he allowed the world champions a seventh substitution, it emerged this week Osiase Koto had a unique solution to rectifying his cock-up . . . pretend it never happened. Koto left the controversial seventh sub of Pepe Reina for Victor Valdes out of his official report. We never believed ostriches were a bird native to mountainous Lesotho, where Koto is from, but the ref has managed a pretty good impression of one.
WE never thought we’d hear ourselves say this, but Itumeleng Khune had better watch out: there’s a younger sheriff in town. When Stuart Baxter gave Reyaad Pieterse his debut as a substitute for Khune in Chiefs’ goal in the 4-1 win against Polokwane City, Amakhosi supporters let out a gasp at the size of the man-mountain reserve goalkeeper. Bearded and with biceps like Sly Stallone, the 21-year-old Nike Football Academy product says he’s not in a rush to depose Khune. Still, Itumeleng, we’d recommend staying clear of any dark alleys for now.
WHEN Bloemfontein Celtic and Maritzburg United swapped coaches Ernst Middendorp and Clinton Larsen in October, Tsamaya thought a form of mad cow disease had begun to influence the coaching merry-go-round in the PSL. With United languishing in 10th place six matches later, and Celtic even worse-placed at 13th, it’s not looking good for one of the more bizarre coaching changes in recent times. There’s a long way to go. Just the same, we’ll be keeping our eye on the PSL’s relegation battle when the end of the season comes around.