Well what does one say on a day after a weekend that has ended with negative connotations for Bafana Bafana as they will now not be going to the World Cup next year which will be played in my home country Germany.

Also this weekend Germany lost away from home in a friendly game to Slovakia in Bratislava by 2 goals to nil which I think is also disastrous but not as bad as South Africa’s loss, because Germany as hosts qualify automatically and Jurgen Klinsmann has time to work on certain areas and be better prepared for next years event. Since the world Cup is in Germany it will be important for the team to go at least to the quarterfinals.

Going back to Bafana Bafana - I am not in the position to comment on why things have turned out the way they have, I will say is that if the country is looking for a new coach they should consider Otto Raehagel my fellow countrymen and great friend for the job. Otto turned around a country with average players and helped them win the European Championships. When he took over the Greek Federation, they were beset by many of the same problems that SAFA have. Otto helped sort out the entire Greek Football Federation from the beauracratic mess that they were in, he even dropped some of their big names who are key players at some of the big name European teams and he opted for a team with a good mix of domestic players and those based elsewhere in Europe.

Back home to our own conquest - we had a training session this morning the first part of which was very physical and was conducted for the most part by our physiotherapist David Milner. Frank Eulberg, he assistant coach took over and he conducted the second half of the session. For the rest of the week we will be having two sessions a day with all the players being part of the morning session and we will be rotating players for the afternoon working with specific needs of different players and tactics in the afternoon. We will prepare more specifically for the weekend game later in the week but for now I am happy to be working with a squad that is operating at 90% with minimal injuries and just two players Arthur Zwane and Rowen Fernandez missing most of this weeks training.

Injuries

Thabo Mooki: Recovered well over the weekend has made good progress as he resumed full training this morning. Thabo is an important part of the team and it was good for morale to see him back at training giving 100% a truly professional player and dedicated.

Tinashe Nengomasha: Recovering well from his hamstring - we will take a look on Thursday to see whether he will be able to play this weekend. Did light physical training this morning - will continue in a similar vein tomorrow and Wednesday.

Cyril Nzama: Continued physical and rehabilitation training as he continues his recovery from an Achilles tendon injury, which he picked up in April. Has shown excellent recovery and will continue physical training until the end of the month when he should be ready for full training. He has not started training with soccer boots and continues to train with running shoes for extra support and not to aggravate the injury.

Gerald Sibeko: Should be fit by Wednesday overcoming an injury to his general lateral muscle in his knee. Not a serious injury.

Lucky Mzizi: Was sent home from training this morning (Monday), as he has not fully recovered from the flu and a high fever which kept him out of training for most of last week. We are monitoring him to see the progress he is making.

Love and Peace!

Ernst Middendorp


Kaizer Chiefs Head Coach