Postview: AmaZulu

We registered our first win in the league this season against a tricky, AmaZulu side. We knew that it was always going to be difficult to beat them in Durban but we pulled through. I was not entirely happy with the way we defended but it should be understood that players make mistake. We had two defenders in Jimmy Tau and Dominic Isaac playing, the two of them had not seen much action before that particular game. We scored three goals, conceded two which was not bad at all.

The win was also a boost for us after having a tough start in the league. We are not panicking as we believe we are still on track as far as our plans go.

Preview: Maritzburg United

We are back in action this weekend against Maritzburg United. People have already said that it will be an easy game but for us we do not have easy games. We are preparing for this game as we would prepare for any side in the Premier Soccer League. There are no easy games, so we expect Maritzburg to be a tough side.

I have been asked whether the Fifa break will have an impact on us having won our last game against AmaZulu in Durban, in all honesty we knew that we were going to have a break so we prepared accordingly so this will not have any impact on the momentum.

We do not know a lot about our opponents but we doing all we can to get information on them before our game on Saturday at Orlando Stadium.

Injury Update

We have everyone ready for this game except Valery Nahayo and Abia Nale. Valery might have to go for surgery so he might be out for a while. As for Nale, he sustained an injury late in the game against AmaZulu, it is not a serious injury and we expect him to be back in action soon. Josta Dladla who missed our last game is back in full training so is Nkosinathi Nhleko who also sustained an injury against AmaZulu.

Siphiwe Tshabalala

Tshabalala was used as a second half substitute for Bafana Bafana against Germany last weekend. There has been communication between myself and Bafana’s physical trainer about his condition. He is an important for both the Club and country and we need to do everything in making sure that he is ready to play in the next World Cup.

I am happy that relationship between the two Technical Teams is good because they did tell us of their intentions to use the player for the two international friendly matches against Germany and Ireland. We agreed and we are happy that they listened to what we had to say to them.

Mandla Masango and Thela Ngobeni

The two players will be jetting off to Ethiopia on Sunday as part of preparation for the U-20 World Cup in Egypt later this month. It is really good to have two of them taking part in this tournament. They are currently doing well for the Club. Thela also joined the team in full training last week after suffering an injury against SuperSport mid last month. I have no doubt that they will both be key players for South Africa in the tournament. We wish them and the team all the best in Egypt.

2010 Qualifiers

I have obviously been following the World Cup qualifiers and over the weekend I watched Serbia against Romania. We got a draw which I think is a good result for us ahead of our game against France this coming Wednesday. If we beat France then we will definitely be 100% in South Africa next year June and July. We will have to wait and see what happens as I have already said that we are strong enough to qualify for the next World Cup.

Some were surprised that Brazil beat Argentina by 3-1 in their own backyard last weekend but Brazil has proven in the past that they can beat anyone anywhere. I was not shocked at all with the result also taking into consideration Argentina’s challenges in the coaching department where Maradona one of the greatest players is at the helm. In Coaching you need to have bit more than playing experience.

Tunisia and Nigeria’s result was also interesting. The two countries are some of the top countries in the African continent and Nigeria will be upset that they conceded a last minute equaliser. The battle for places in the next World Cup is still on though and for other groups it will be decided in the last group games.

See you all at Orlando Stadium on Saturday!

Dovidenja!