May 2020

Kick Off

Soccer at its best!

Kick Off1 min read
Kick Off
KICK OFF, PO Box 787, Sea Point 8060 Tel: (021) 425 1200 Fax: 086 592 0150 Email: forum@kickoff.com Website: www.kickoff.com Mobile: kickoff.com/mobile Facebook: Kick Off Magazine Twitter: @KickOffMagazine Instagram: @kickoffmagazine Zola Doda (Edito
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KO Footballer Of The Season Vote Extended
As soon as the April edition of KICK OFF Soccer magazine hit the newsstands, the Covid-19 pandemic brought the football season to screeching halt. But despite the fact that there were no live matches played, no open media day or press conferences as
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LETTERS To The Editor
I think the players who falsify their age must carefully consider the dire implications their actions transmit on football, and even on themselves, during and post their playing days. Besides putting the sport into disrepute and tainting its image, a
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Star Letter
It is noteworthy to see how Bloemfontein Celtic have restabilised itself. Facing the unknown after Steve Komphela’s departure, the club’s sales saga, financial crisis and players’ disgruntlement, Bloemfontein Celtic was virtually threatened with exti
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The Month That Was
• Kaizer Chiefs paid homage to former star Chris ‘Rollaway’ Ndlovu, who passed away over the Easter weekend. • GladAfrica Championship promotion hopefuls Uthongathi say they will not contest the decision if the Premier Soccer League call the season n
Kick Off8 min read
The Rebirth Of Jali
Mamelodi Sundowns midfielder Andile Jali’s recent performances have been sending reminders that daring to write him off is akin to stepping on to a snake’s tail. Without doubt his impact upon his return to domestic football following a four-and-a-hal
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European Sundowns Returnees
How those that played in the PSL, left for Europe and then joined Sundowns upon returning, fared at Chloorkop: MATHEW BOOTH – he was a useful signing on both occasions that he came back from England and then Russia. RAPHAEL CHUKWU – the last of his s
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‘I Must Score More’
KICK OFF: Vincent, thanks for taking time to talk to us. You never played in any development team prior to being signed by then First Division club African Warriors eight years ago … Vincent Pule: [Laughing] I think at times we must be grateful for t
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‘It Was Easy To Dismiss Him’
When Vincent Pule arrived at African Warriors during the winter of 2012, the man in charge at the club was coach Thami Ngubane, who still thinks highly of him up to this day. “I could see from the first day that the boy has something in him because h
Kick Off1 min read
Bafana Return?
Vincent Pule has already had the feel of wearing the Bafana Bafana jersey and so holds out hope of doing duty for the national team again. “I think it is normal that every player wants to play for Bafana Bafana. I have not been getting call ups in re
Kick Off7 min read
‘Motaung Must Educate Chiefs Fans’
As strange as it might sound, coach Ernst Middendorp hasn’t won over all in the stands despite masterminding Kaizer Chiefs’ rise to the top of the Absa Premiership standings, which has left them within a stone’s throw of winning the league title. Chi
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‘Coaching Chiefs Is Something Different’
KICK OFF: How difficult then was it for you to change the style of play at Kaizer Chiefs after you took over from Baxter, because they won the league with a transitional approach? Steve Komphela: Yo … yo … and I hope Stuart takes this with the utmost
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Scoring Patterns
04/08/19 – Highlands Park (away, 2-3) Manyama header, Manyama shot, Mathoho shot 10/08/19 – Black Leopards (home, 1-0) Mathoho header 24/08/19 – SuperSport United (home, 1-1) Nurkovic shot 27/08/19 – Cape Town City (away, 1-2) Cardoso header, Baccus
Kick Off7 min read
‘Chiefs Was A Blessing’
The seven appearances that Lorenzo Gordinho managed in his first two years at Kaizer Chiefs were nothing to get him worried about as a youngster who had been promoted from the club’s development. Into his third season, his big break arrived, and he s
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Football’s Fight For Survival
When the Chinese first confirmed that health authorities in the city of Wuhan were treating dozens of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause, South Africa was readying to bring in the New Year. It was December 31 when the world first learnt that researc
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Supporting Father
Lorenzo Gordinho is the son of former Orlando Pirates and Benoni United defender Manny Faria and has a younger brother, Anthony Gordinho, who also plays football but has been battling to make inroads into the professional ranks. “When we were growing
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Possible New Footballing Landscape
• Taking the international windows out of the club seasons and sticking them on the end, before and in the middle only. There will be few international windows but they will be longer. • Cutting down on the qualification process for the World Cup and
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How Might The Season End?
Premier Soccer League clubs, like their counterparts across Europe, are mindful of the need to complete the 2019/20 season, for two major reasons. The first is to ensure they have completed their contractual obligations to sponsors and broadcasters,
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My DreamTeam
Brian was my teammate in the national Under-23 team and Bafana Bafana. He was the best goalkeeper I have ever played with. He stopped all my free-kicks at Bafana training. Sometimes I used to ask him to give reserve goalkeeper Simon Gopane a chance s
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Substitutes
I liked Emille, my Under-23 teammate at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. A very quiet guy off the field but a great goalkeeper. Lovers was strong, he had pace and a muscular physique. You couldn’t just dribble him; he was very tough on the ball. My old O
Kick Off8 min read
‘I Wasn’t Given My Fair Shot At Pirates’
KICK OFF: Where did your football journey start? Marc van Heerden: I was five and my Dad, Mark, hauled me down to the local soccer field and wanted me to start playing. After the first or second training session, I really enjoyed it. My Dad played as
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Steve Barker On Van Heerden
Steve Barker coached Marc van Heerden at University of Pretoria, AmaZulu and now Stellenbosch FC. “I have obviously known Marc since he was a young kid at in the AmaTuks academy. He has one of the best left foots in the business and from a young age
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Going Global In The Transfer Trade
There have never been as many international transfers of players as the 2019 calendar year, as the global reach of the game means footballers are breaking new frontiers away from home and playing their trade outside of their own country. The over 18,
Kick Off9 min read
‘Mine Is A Sad Story’
In his playing days, Willem Vries literally carried Bloemfontein Celtic on his shoulders and it was not surprising that through captaining the club he also held the record for most appearances ever in their illustrious history. Up until 2018 he held
Kick Off7 min read
Living Up To The Ayew Name
KICK OFF: The Coronavirus has brought a lot of heartache and uncertainty in the world, how challenging had it been? Jordan Ayew: It’s something that we never expected to happen or that things would end up like this with the league suspended. But toda
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Kicking On In Denmark
KICK OFF: Let’s take things back. You grew up in New Zealand, how did the move to Bidvest Wits come about for you? Liam Jordan: The essence of it was that myself and my mother had been planning to move back to South Africa in 2013. The move was almos
Kick Off8 min read
10 Potential Bafana Stars You May Not Have Heard Of
Date of birth: 07/06/1998 Position: Midfielder Club: Western Sydney Wanderers, Australia Fans will know much about Kearyn Baccus at Kaizer Chiefs, but his younger brother Keanu has flown a little under the radar in South African football. Like the Am
Kick Off8 min read
Still Ticking Along
Back in the days when Jomo Cosmos was a regular in the Premier League, winning trophies, reaching finals and walking with the pride that was befitting of their nickname Ezenkosi, they had a lethal front-man, one of the greatest ever to come out of th
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Secrets Of The Stars
1 Chippa United goalkeeper Veli Mothwa was born in Mamelodi East, Pretoria as the fifth born of six kids – four boys and two girls. Though all six share the same mother, they have different fathers. 2 His siblings are George, the first born, who work
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Life In Lockdown
The coronavirus outbreak is difficult in every aspect. It is not only difficult footballers but for our families – we are all confined to staying at home. We don’t have a choice because health is more important. Normally, I wake up at 05h30 every day

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