Cosmos face up to losing Mashumba
Werder Bremen vice-captain Niklas Moisander is experiencing the sunshine of South Africa for the first time this week, but he is not without his connections to the game on these shores.
Moisander was given his first cap with the Finland senior national team by none other than Bafana Bafana head coach Stuart Baxter, while he also spent several seasons at Ajax Amsterdam with Thulani Serero.
On Baxter, Moisander was gentle when questioned as to why the Bafana coach has struggled at international level, compared to his successes at club level. Baxter joined Finland in 2008 as head coach, and failed to qualify for the European Championships or World Cup finals.
“He was the first coach who called me to the national team, so it was a great moment for me,” said Mosiander, who made his Finland debut in 2008.
“I liked him as a trainer, you could see he had experience all over the world. I know the success he had in Sweden (at club level) and also here, I think he is a good trainer and am thankful he gave me my debut in the Finnish team. We got some good results, unfortunately we didn’t make it to the Euros or the World Cup.”
With Serero, meanwhile, Moisander twice won the Dutch Erdeivisie at Ajax.
“I like him as a player, he is one of the most technical I have played with, he is a great player but also a great guy. He was loved at Ajax and I have warm memories of him, we played together and won two championships.”
Bremen are in Johannesburg to escape the German winter and sharpen their skills ahead of the second part of the Bundesliga campaign. They will play friendlies against Kaizer Chiefs on Sunday and Bidvest Wits on January 11.
And the 33-year-old defender, who has started all but three of his side’s league games this season, stressed that the games were more about preparation than anything else.
“The most important thing for us is to test how far we are physically and tactically before the second half of the season,” he said. Just as happened last season, Jomo Cosmos have lost a critical player halfway to the end of the season after Chalton Mashumba joined Polokwane City after spending just two months at Ezenkosi and scoring four goals in five matches.
But captain Ange Lebahi is adamant that, just like last season, the team will be able to stage a fight and challenge for promotion once again.
“He leaves a big gap, that is obvious but we have other players capable of taking over from him and scoring goals for us,” Lebahi told the Saturday Citizen yesterday. Ezenkosi will now look to on-loan Orlando Pirates striker, Ayanda Nkosi for goals and Lebahi said he is more than capable.
“Ayanda can deliver. We will all support him and he can continue where Mashuba left off,” he said. Nkosi was injured for the most part of the first round but is now fit and could start when Ezenkosi host Maccabi FC in a National First Division (NFD) match at Vosloorus Stadium tomorrow afternoon.
“They are not an easy team because they can be unpredictable. They are on-and-off and you can never tell which Maccabi will pitch up on the day. We are aware of the danger they pose especially with their experienced players like Collins Mbesuma, Thapelo Tshilo and (Lebogang) Mokoena who are well experienced. But we beat them in the first round and this gives us confidence. We will also have the advantage of our fans this time around.
NFD strugglers Witbank Spurs will meanwhile begin life under new mentor Shakes Mashaba when they host fellow strugglers Cape Umoya United at Puma Rugby Stadium, this afternoon. The former Bafana Bafana coach was named as the new Siyavutha coach this week, ending weeks of speculation at the side who have gone through three coaches in the last six months.
Mashaba – who has minimal club coaching experience – is expected to rescue Siyavutha from the claws of relegation. He could get his first win today as Umoya have also struggled but showed signs of improvements when former Kaizer Chiefs defender Dominic Isaacs took over as coach in November.
Today:
Witbank Spurs v Cape Umoya; University of Pretoria v Real Kings; Ubuntu CT v Ajax CT. Cosmos v Maccabi; TS Galaxy v Richards Bay; Stellenbosch v Royal Eagles; TS Sporting v Mbombela United. Tshakhuma v Uthongathi.
Tomorrow: Monday: