Ezenkosi have suffered the same fate they did two years ago as they got relegated for the third time now from the Pretoria Soccer League, They failed to win against Swallows & therefore have gotten the chop. Ezenkosi failed to impress most of the season although they got to a brilliant start showing signs of improvement but that only lasted for the first five games or so and when it started raining it really started to pour. In their place is yet another Cape Town side in the form of Vasco Dama who ousted Black Leopards. Aces will have to wait for the play –offs to try to seal their fate in the premiership.
A hundred days till the World Cup was being separated in the country a week back. The South Africans seem really set to provide a very joyous tournament. When this day came one remembered the journey so far and how this tournament has eventually landed here. We were supposed to have the 2006 tournament if you can remember that far. When we eventually got this 2010 one it set the wheels in motion for a number of transport services that were supposed to make the World Cup that much more pleasant. The Gautrain will not be ready in time and the BRT is up and running bringing a lot of convenience to Johannesburg residents but has had its own threats from the taxi industry. The Safa boss debacle has also caused its fair share of controversy including the new Chief Executive controversy.
On the day a summit was held in East London on the readiness of the province to host the World Cup this included aspects such as health, emergency, safety, security, tourism etc. Sports Minister Makhekensi Stofile who attended the event reiterated how successful tickets sales have been sold in the past two months. There was a point of panic early January about tickets sales that prompted Danny Jordan to bring the matter to the nation’s attention. Over a million tickets have been sold in the period between January and February. SAFA has also echoed how tickets will not be donated. Various stadiums in fact most have sold out their category 1 tickets. However certain provinces have shown ominous hopes in their marketing endeavors i.e Empumalanga who are hosting Honduras. One would fathom the pessimism as the country is not the most well known place but they have a chance to gain popularity in the World Cup as the whole world will be watching come June.
The tournament is beckoning and promises to be quite an entertaining one especially after seeing most of the teams in the tournament go up against each other last week. These matches had very interesting outcomes. The biggest game was probably the Argentina vs Germany bout which the South Americans won. Another high profiled game was the AFCON champs playing against England who happened to have woes in the form of the Terry & Bridge saga. Bridge has since withdrawn from the English camp and to make matters worse Ashley Cole will be absent. England managed to whip Egypt with a convincing three goals. England are being hosted in Rustenburg and the media recently reported on a spat that recently happened about how the rooms England are to be staying in are half done but Capello showed no fuss about it as he projected confidence that these rooms will be finished in time. Capello has also taken measures to acclimatize the team with the high altitude in the North West by setting up a camp in Austria.
Locally Bafana’s preparations are not looking too good as they drew with lowly Namibia through a Katlego Mphela goal 20 minutes before end of play. Bafana’s ostentatious play from Mokoena and Modise did not bear any fruit. Destitude still seems eminent as Benni Mccarthy could miss the tournament. The Bafana leading striker of all time though hasn’t seemed in top form ever since his return to the team. A camp to Brazil could do wonders for the boys though as they are going to have tough competitors in the form of Brazilian local teams and a friendly match against Paraguay.
