Amazulu celebrate their 3-2 win over local rivals Maritzburg United (Alegi photo)

The PSL season in KwaZulu-Natal opened with an exciting goal-filled derby in front of a small but vociferous crowd at Mabhida Stadium in Durban. Hosts Amazulu nipped Maritzburg United 3-2, making us temporarily forget about the countrywide strikes that are turning patients away from hospitals, keeping students out of school, and possibly shutting our water off tomorrow.

12 minutes into the match a free kick finds the head of a diving Ayanda Dlamini who loops it over Shu-Aib Walters: 1-0 Amazulu.

Ayanda Dlamini's header gives Amazulu the lead. Note the empty seats (Alegi photo).

Ten minutes later Namibian striker Rudolph Bester drew Maritzburg United level courtesy of a goalkeeping blunder off another set play. Traveling fans were quieted once more after Majoro headed in a perfectly calibrated Hadebe cross on 38 minutes. 2-1 at the break.

Now that's halftime entertainment! (Alegi photo)

The second half had two gems. 53rd minute: Mkhonza scores a spectacular own goal — a lob over Mzimela from 30 meters out! 91st minute: Dlamini finishes off a sweet move with a sterling game-winning strike just inside the box. The yin of Usuthu fans’ celebration versus the yang of Maritzburgers’ grief.

Amazulu women supporters praise their heroes' victory (Alegi photo)

While far from a technical and tactical masterpiece, this derby had lots of goals, blunders, and an emotionally charged finish. Well worth the price of admission!

Maritzburg fans stunned into silence (Alegi photo)

Reggie Shelembe (1960-2010) -- iqhawe lamaqhawe (Photo by Peter Alegi)

African football has lost a giant. Reggie Shelembe (1960-2010), former player for African Wanderers, Durban Bush Bucks and AmaZulu and coach of Maritzburg City, has passed away from cancer. My heartfelt condolences to his family.

I got to know Reggie at the Izichwe development program where he coached young boys and my daughter. Reggie was a football connoisseur, devoted family man and teacher who came to training despite his illness, always eager to discuss the young players’ progress, the latest Champions League match and, of course, the 2010 World Cup. One hot afternoon, too hot for his weary body, he watched the training session from his parked car. When I went to say hi he smiled broadly and said: ‘man, you’ve got a nice first touch! I could see it all the way from here!’

I only had the privilege of Reggie’s company for a cruelly short time. But I’ll remember fondly our many afternoons spent ‘doing football’. His knowledge, generosity and commitment will continue to inspire us to put people before profits in and out of football.

Thabo Dladla’s thoughts on the passing of his dear friend tell us far more than I ever could. Here they are:

Mhlanga Madondo, one of our most promising young coaches, made a profound statement when the late Reggie Shelembe was critically ill. ‘We cannot afford to lose a man of his experience. Reggie’s death will put uMgungundlovu [Pietermaritzburg] football back more than 20 years. It will be very difficult for local to recover from his passing.” Zakes Gwala, SAFA KZN secretary, also made a telling statement about Shelembe a few years ago. ‘The man spends most of his time training players, whether it’s a cold or very hot day.’

I think it is proper to thank his family to have allowed football to share him. We live in a time where life is more about status and power. There are very few men and women who are prepared to make sacrifices for others. A lot of people coach hoping to get instant fame and fortune. We have few people in this country with the passion to work under difficult conditions.

Shelembe lived for football. He would call me at odd hours to talk about technical-tactical ideas. He was a true student of the game. The last time I visited him, he was watching the recent Women’s U20 World Cup. He was excited about the growth of women’s football. Shelembe was also part of the coaching group that recruited Izichwe Youth Football Programme talent. He worked with Styles Mkhize and Mhlanga Madondo in the infancy stage of the programme. He came to training even when he was sick. He trained juniors in the mornings and seniors in the afternoons.

The death of Shelembe should usher in a new commitment from people. Football needs parents who will take responsibility for the development of children. I would like to appeal to young players to learn from Shelembe’s life. It is important to give back in life. May his family be consoled by the fact that Shelembe lived life to its fullest. He was a brave man who fought hard to the end. May his soul rest in peace. Unzima lo mthwalo!

Schoolgirls playing the game in KwaZulu-Natal (Photo by Peter Alegi)

Remember ‘Feel it! It is here!’ and similar emotional tugs on our football-loving hearts and souls during the 2010 World Cup? A few weeks later, the country is due to host the CAF African Women’s Championship and the silence is deafening.

Media, the South African FA, government and the private sector are back to their usual ways, ignoring everything but the money-spinning elite men’s game. The most recent evidence of the continuing low status of the women’s game in South Africa (and Africa) is that the venues for the African Women’s Championship in October have yet to be decided.

After the World Cup, we are back to reality. Maladministration, commercial disinterest, and male condescension continue to hold African women’s football back. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Mphela courtesy of http://images.teamtalk.com/10/06/496x259/mphela_2460847.jpg

Bafana Bafana returned to action after the 2010 World Cup Wednesday night with a deserved 1-0 win against The Black Stars on a cold night at half-full Soccer City. Katlego Mphela (in photo) scored the winner in the 42nd minute.

Pitso Mosimane, Bafana’s new ‘local-is-lekker’ head coach, said: ‘Mphela was frustrating me by missing two good chances early on. That was why I called Mphela over to the touchline in the first half and told him what I wanted and he produced the winner.’ No need for Madiba magic, now we have Pitso magic.

Speaking of spiritual forces, Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac (sort of) joked that Soccer City may be cursed: ‘This was the third match we played here and we have lost all three’ (to Germany, Uruguay and now SA).

Overall, a useful friendly for Mosimane’s debut at the helm of South Africa as they begin 2012 African Nations Cup qualifiers at home next month against Niger. Phambili!

Zamajobe doing vuvuzela in Durban, 27 May 2010 (Photo by Peter Alegi)

South Africa 2010’s major cultural legacy — the vuvuzela plastic horn — is spreading like a plague across planet football. This Made-in-China ‘invented tradition’ has drowned out the chants, songs, praise poetry, music (yes, music) and other organic collective sounds that used to accompany the ebb-and-flow of the game in South Africa. A Kenyan friend pointed out to me that the term vuvuzela is being used both as a noun and a verb.

However, there is increasing evidence from overseas that a movement is growing in opposition to the notion that the stadium experience can be reduced to the deafening sound of wailing goats. Six English Premier League clubs — Tottenham Hotspur, Arsenal, Birmingham, Everton, Fulham and West Ham — have banned vuvuzelas from their home grounds and others are likely to follow suit. In the United States, where the infernal horn is already in MLS stadiums, the New York Times reports that the New Meadowlands Stadium has been declared a ‘vuvuzela-free zone’ for the USA-Brazil friendly on August 10.

Read the article here.

Thabo Dladla (right) and Styles at Izichwe (Photo by Peter Alegi)

‘Talking Football’ by Thabo Dladla  (Echo, 5 August 2010)

The euphoria and excitement that grew around football during the recent World Cup are not likely to boost the beautiful game in South Africa. If our attitudes do not change towards this predominantly black sport, it will remain a stepchild of South African sport for many years to come.

Rugby and cricket will continue to receive support from businesses and decision makers.  The black elites’ children attend private and formerly white high schools which promote rugby and cricket . . . [codes] which enjoy the best sporting facilities, all the way up to university level. The few facilities available to football are either poorly maintained or not maintained at all.

The system continues to support the rich and politically powerful. there are many black faces leading institutions such as schools, universities, municipalities and government departments, and yet football continues to struggle.

At university level rugby enjoys huge sponsorship and coverage on television while football [does] not despite the huge number of students who play the game . . . The young men and women in this age group should be competing in U20 and U23 competitions. The Izichwe Youth programme based at the University of KwaZulu-Natal strives to address some of the challenges faced by the needy youth.[The program receives support from Ilawu B.B., National Lottery, Metropolitan, Adidas and Viking Stavanger FC in Norway.]

The rich and powerful call for more police and prisons. Yet the country requires youth programmes to empower our youngsters socially, economically and academically, to shape their future. I would like to see a change in attitude from those who make decisions in government and business.

It is not only the rugby-playing children from middle class families who have dreams. Patriotism is not only about carrying flags and singing national anthems, it is more about caring and supporting your fellow citizens.

[Click to listen to podcast with Thabo Dladla and fellow coaches.]

Coach Styles teaching future Bafana and PSL stars in Pietermaritzburg (Photo by Peter Alegi)

National football styles are intertwined with a country’s history and culture. Can Pitso Mosimane, Bafana Bafana’s new homegrown coach, develop a common ‘South African’ playing style? If the former SuperSport coach and Bafana assistant succeeds, he will have done better than his Brazilian, Romanian, English, Portuguese, and French predecessors.

‘South African football is a sort of United Nations,’ writes Izichwe Youth Football director Thabo Dladla in his ‘Talking Football’ column this week. ‘You have parts of the country like the Western Cape with their English influence, inland areas with diski [street style] influence, some German and Dutch influence in SAFA structures, [and more recently] Brazilian and Serbian influences.’

Clearly, Mosimane faces a daunting challenge in trying to craft a common style out of a melange of local and foreign influences. ‘South African football is more about ball retention and individual improvisation,’ Dladla notes.  ‘We grow up playing in small spaces, on hard, bumpy surfaces.  The small frame and short-to-medium height of the majority of our players make it logical to play mainly short passes on the ground.’

World champions Spain point the way forward for South Africa. It’s not a question of conveniently jumping on the winners’ bandwagon. Rather, Dladla notes that ‘Spanish football is based on technique, ball possession and nimble short-passing combination.’ That Spain’s 11 starters in the World Cup all play in La Liga further inspires many South Africans eager to raise the quality of the domestic Premier Soccer League.

Will South Africa’s performances improve under Mosimane? Will a new national style of play reflect the sharper sense of South Africanness left by the 2010 World Cup?  Perhaps, but until that time local fans will keep on blowing vuvuzelas in the stadiums: ‘They are bored,’ says Dladla, ‘There is nothing to entertain them between the lines.’