Daily Archives: May 28, 2012

8-Nation International tournament in full swing

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BY Obakeng Maje

Day four of the 8-Nation International tournament in Cape Town promises to serve up another feast of exciting youth international action during Monday’s (28 May) double header at Athlone.

Brazil will be firm favourites to pick up their second win of the tournament when they face Kenya at the Athlone Stadium.

Kickoff is at 18h00.

The Brazilians won their first match 1-0 against Cameroon, while Kenya was comprehensively beaten 3-0 by Japan.

Kenya will need to work on their finishing if they are to have any chance of upsetting Brazil – against Japan the east Africans squandered several very good opportunities.

The bad news for Kenya coach Stanley Khayo and his players is that Brazil feel they have plenty of room for improvement on their first game, with their intentions set on lifting the trophy next weekend.

“We expect more from a Brazilian team, but considering first game anxiety we did well (against Cameroon). My technical team will analyse our next opponents, Kenya and Japan, and then advice best how to plan for them within our system,” said Brazil head coach Ney Franciso da Silveira.

“We are taking things step by step, but it would be very important to win this tournament, for the generation of players we are bringing through.”

The second match of the day kicks off at 20H30 and sees Japan facing Cameroon.

The West African side acquitted themselves well against Brazil in their first game, losing 1-0 despite putting the South Americans under severe pressure in the second half.

Cameroon however will be desperate to take at least a point off Japan as they look to keep their dreams of qualifying for the semi-finals alive.

However, the way Group B is panning out, a win would be a much more preferable outcome for the West African side.

Japan coach Yasushi Yoshida was satisfied with his team’s 3-0 win over Kenya in their opening match, but concedes that in Cameroon, the Asian side will have a much tougher challenge.

“We showed very good team-work and passing early on in the game against Kenya and this is something we need to repeat. We understand they are very strong, and we will need to get 100 or more percent out of what we have,” said Yoshida.

“We’ll need to improve on the performance against Kenya if we hope to get a good result from the match against Cameroon.”

Banyana Banyana and Bafana Bafana play in a double header in Phokeng

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BY Obakeng Maje

The South African Senior Women’s National Team (Banyana Banyana) will face Nigeria in an international friendly match that will be part of a double-header with Bafana Bafana.

Banyana Banyana will take on their long-time rivals on Sunday, 3 June 2012 at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace in Phokeng near Rustenburg with a 19h00 kickoff – just after Bafana Bafana have played Ethiopia in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier at the same venue. Kickoff for the first match is 15h00.

The Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana squad returned home on Sunday (27 May) from Zambia where they defeated the host nation by four goals to one (4-1) in an African Women’s Championship qualifier played on Saturday (26 May).

The South Africans are scheduled to travel to Rustenburg on Tuesday (29 May) to set up camp ahead of the clash with Nigeria.

Head coach of the Banyana Banyana squad, Joseph Mkhonza will be looking to gauge the strength of his charges against the competitive West Africans as part of the plan to prepare efficiently for the 2012 London Olympics games in July.

Having won two back to back matches – against Tanzania (5-2) and Zambia (4-1) – the South Africans’ confidence has sky-rocketed and they are eagerly awaiting the clash against Nigeria.

“We have come a long way with the matches we’ve played so far but I still believe we need stronger opposition as a build-up to the Olympics. The Nigerians are the African champions so there are still lessons to be learnt. I would like to see the girls play the way they did in Cyprus. I was highly impressed and would like to see a similar style of play when we play this weekend,” said Mkhonza 

Banyana Banyana will be rejoined by six players – Jermaine Seoposenwe, Rachael Sebati, Andile Dlamini, Refiloe Jane, Leah Sethunya and Nomvula Kgoale – who did not accompany the 18 that travelled to Zambia.

“I have not selected the final squad for the Olympics as yet so I will always call up players with the best playing potential as a means of selecting a final good squad of eighteen players as we near the Olympics. The support we receive from SAFA and Sasol has helped us a great deal with the training camps we’ve held thus far as we position ourselves to compete against the world’s best opposition in London,” concluded Mkhonza.

BY Obakeng Maje…


BY Obakeng Maje

South Africa Under-20 coach Solly Luvhengo admits there is room for improvement from his side as they prepare to face Nigeria in their final Group A match in the 8-Nation tournament taking place in Cape Town.

Amajita meet Nigeria at the Cape Town Stadium on Tuesday (29 May) evening. Kick off is at 18H00.

They go into the game on the back of a 2-0 win over Ghana, which had followed the disappointment of a 3-1 opening loss to Argentina.

A draw against the Flying Eagles could be enough to see Amajita advance to the semi-finals, unless Ghana manages to beat Argentina when those two countries clash later in the evening (20H30 kick off, also at Cape Town Stadium.)

The South African side has played some excellent football in both of their games, with the 3-1 score-line to Argentina not a true reflection of the game, a fact to which Argentine coach Marcello Trobbiani has openly admitted.

There were many positives from the win over the Black Satellites, including the clean sheet, another man-of-the-match performance from Snethemba Ngidi, and a second goal in two games for striker Thabani Mthembu.
But Amajita’s goals to chances ratio has not been as good as it should be: their dominance in terms of build-up play and clear-cut opportunities created has unfortunately not transcended into as many goals as it should have, a fact which Luvhengo is very much aware of. 

“We worked very hard to create chances against Ghana, which is not an easy thing to do. When you get a chance and don’t finish, it’s not acceptable. It can come back to haunt you if the opponents get one chance and score.

“We are creating chances but don’t stab them into the net. Look at Argentina in our first game – they got three chances and scored three goals. Against Ghana we had seven, eight chances, but only scored twice.

“And these were from set pieces, not open play – it is a factor which I am aware of and which concerns us.

“We need to calm down after the Ghana win. It’s a good win, but it’s behind us now. Nigeria are a very good team, very strong and from nothing they can get a goal – that’s the difference: from nothing they can score,” said Luvhengo.
Nigeria is yet to pick up a point in the tournament. But should they beat South Africa, and if Ghana loses to Argentina, the Flying Eagles still have the possibility of going through to the semi-finals on goal difference.

Hence, it’s all to play for, and Nigeria coach John Obuh is hoping his players can lift themselves to a better performance after back to back defeats.

“I expected more of my players in the Argentina game, but we were too worried and made too many mistakes.

“We will give it a very good fight against South Africa. I was very surprised to see them beating Ghana after Ghana had put up such a wonderful performance against us.

“South Africa beating Ghana has put us under a lot of pressure, but there is still hope for us and we are going to go out there and give everything we have,” he said.

The second game of the evening promises to be every bit as entertaining as the first. 
Even with six points from two games, Argentina is not guaranteed a place in the semi-final: should they lose to Ghana and if South Africa beat Nigeria, three teams will finish on six points and it will come down to goal difference.

Argentina’s play has been solid if unspectacular – they have gone about their game in a businesslike fashion, but there is the sense that the South Americans could lift things to another level when needed.

Ghana on the other hand have been inconsistent. The thrill of their opening day win over Nigeria subsided with a less energetic performance in a 2-0 loss to Amajita; it could be a question of which Black Satellite unit shows up for the crunch game with Argentina.
One thing is for certain – Group A has developed as expected into the group of death and Tuesday night promises to be high on drama and excitement. 
 

NORTH WEST POLICE SUCCESSES

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BY Obakeng Maje

TAUNG–  A 29-year-old suspect was arrested after killing 21-year-old Mpho David Kopakae and stabbing his 20-year-old brother, in Mogogong Village on Sunday, 2012-05-27 at 01:30.

 

The Police were summond to a complaint at Magogong Clinic, where a group of people were gathered after an fight allegedly broke out at Boitekong Tavern and proceeded until inside the clinic. The police found two injured person’s as well as one corps of a person(21-year-old) that was stabbed to death.

 

The first person(21-year-old deceased) that was stabbed with a knife were rushed to the clinic. Whilst at the clinic the suspect entered the clinic and he had a knife in his hand. All people inside the clinic rushed out of the clinic to safety, except the brother of the injured 21-year-old. The suspect then also stabed the brother of the victim (20-years-old) behind his ear, the 20-year-old brother also managed to stab the suspect during the fight inside the clinic and he(suspect) was also injured. The police are investigating cases of murder and assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm.

 

HEBRON-On Sunday, 2012-05-27 at about 00:30 two vehicles, a white Toyota LDV and a white Mazda 323,  collided head-on on the M20 road between Hebron and Erasmus Roads.  Passengers were trapped inside the vehicles and had to be removed with the jaws of life. 6 people were seriously injured and taken to the local hospital for treatment. One person, a female of about 50-years, died on the scene. The Police are investigating a Culpable Homicide case.

 

LICHTENBURG-  A 27-year-old suspect was arrested on Saturday, 2012-05-26 at about 18:00 for rape at Shukran, near Social Services. The 27-year-old victim was walking along the mentioned place, when she was grabbed from behind, wrestled to the ground and raped. The suspect will appear in the Lichtenburg Magistrate’s Court soon.

 

COLIGNY- Three boy’s, aged 6,7 and 8-years allegedly drowned on Sunday, 2012-05-27 at about 08:00. The children was reported missing by their parents on Saturday, 2012-05-26 at about 15:00. Their clothes were found near a disused cement dam and the bodies were retrieved from the dam by police divers. The children were identified as Tshediso Mothobi(6 years), Itumelang Lefothle(7 years) and Thabo Modumo(8years). An inquest are being investigated.

 

CONTAMINATION OF CRIME SCENE: KLERKSDORP

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BY Obakeng Maje

On Sunday, 2012-05-27, at about 20:30, a family member went to his brother’s house in Manzil Park, as he became worried after his brother did not answer his phone.

On arrival at his brother’s house, he saw that the kitchen door was open and unlocked. He entered the house and discovered his severely assaulted 65-year-old, sister unconscious, laying on the kitchen floor with head injuries. The house was ransacked.

He also found his 67-year-old brother in the bedroom, also severely assaulted on the head and unconscious. The ambulance and Police were called to the scene and both injured victims were taken to the local hospital for medical treatment.

 

“In the mean time, community members in Manzil Park started arriving at the crime scene, after sms’es and other messages were being circulated amongst the community. By the time the Police arrived at the scene, about 30 members of the community were inside the house, contaminating the crime scene and destroying physical evidence” Brigadier Thulani Ngubane said.

The Police removed them from the crime scene, that was already tampered with.

 

Bibi Cajee (65 years) passed away at 22:00 on Sunday, 2012-05-27, in hospital, due to the injuries that she have sustained during the incident. At this stage only jewelry are reported as missing from the house and the suspects are unknown. The police are investigating  cases of house robbery, murder and attempted murder.

 

The Provincial Commissioner of the North West , Lt Gen Zukiswa Mbombo requested the Community to assist the police by not contaminating any crime scene.

If the community would like to show their support, it is best to remain a safe distance from any crime scene. The police gather physical evidence like foot prints, vehicle tracks, DNA samples (example blood, hair, clothing fibers, dirt) and fingerprints, to just name a few.

If any person enters a crime scene, the physical evidence can be stepped on and be lost forever, hampering the police investigations.  

‘Killer’ mom will face trial this year

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Her three-month-old baby, born in jail, has been put in the care of her sister.

A NORTHERN Cape woman accused of murdering her five children will go on trial in September.

Venolia Siwa, who gave birth to her sixth child in February this year, appeared in the Pampierstad Magistrate’s Court with a purple towel wrapped around her head on Friday.

Magistrate Jan Brits had to ask her to move it slightly to identify her.

Siwa is accused of killing her five children by forcing them to drink a cocktail of brake fluid and cool drink. She is then believed to have drowned them when she realised they were not dying quickly enough.

She allegedly went to a nearby river where she unsuccessfully tried to kill herself.

She faces five counts of murder.

Her children – Sizwe, 13, Lukanyo, 10, Edward, 5, Reatlegile, 4, and Matiki, 2 – were killed in October at their grandmother’s house in Lower Majeakgoro village.

Brits set down the trial for Septem ber 3 to 7 in the high court, which will be sitting in Vryburg .

Brits said before the beginning of the trial, a pre-trial conference would be held at Mafikeng High Court on August 14.

Siwa was sent for a psychiatric evaluation in November for 30 days. The results will be revealed during the trial.

It is alleged Siwa fetched two of the children – Edward and Lukanyo – from Matlhare Moholo Primary School and took them home, where the other three were waiting.

Before she left home to fetch the children from school she asked her nephew to fill the bath tub.

She said she was going to do laundry when she came back.

She returned with the children and gave all five some of the concoction to drink.

She locked all the doors so that people could not see what was happening inside.

According to a report compiled by the West End Hospital in Kimberley, Siwa was unable to engage in a coherent conversation and was diagnosed with “acute psychosis”.

Her lawyer, Nzame Skibi, earlier told the court Siwa was unable to follow court proceedings, so she couldn’t make a proper defence.

“It is possible that she was in a similar condition at the time of the alleged offence and that she could not appreciate the wrongfulness of her action at the time.”

Siwa’s three-month-old baby, born in jail, has been put in the care of her sister.

 

Gould chooses Chiefs

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Bafana Bafana defender Morgan Gould has told his agent to go ahead and finalise a deal with Kaizer Chiefs as he prefers to play for the club.   

KickOff.com got some insight into the race for Gould’s services at the PSL Awards on Sunday night and though the player couldn’t comment, his agent Glyn Binkin revealed all.
 
“We are finalising a deal with Kaizer Chiefs, because Morgan indicated that he would like to go to Chiefs and that’s where we are at the moment. I’m very confident that we are going to finalise in the next couple of days,” he says.
 
Binkin has admitted that Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates are also interested in the player, but Gould prefers a move to Naturena.
 
“To be honest all the three big clubs are interested, but in my opinion the club that dealt with us in the most professional manner was Kaizer Chiefs. We were directly approached by them and they made it clear they want the player to be part of their squad next season so I sat down with the player to discuss his options and after a couple of days he made it clear that he want to join Chiefs,” Binkin confirms.

“It is clear which team he would like to join and that club is Kaizer Chiefs  “
– Glyn Binkin 

“We are pretty far advanced with the negotiations and the only challenge was to wait for him to play his last match of the season, which he did with aplomb (by helping SuperSport United beat Mamelodi Sundowns in the Nedbank Cup final).
 
“Now it is clear which team he would like to join and that club is Kaizer Chiefs so now we have to make that a reality,” Binkin adds.
 
Gould, who also attended the PSL Awards in Gold Reef City, Johannesburg, was taken to one of the rooms at the venue by Chiefs officials including Jessica Motaung and though the meeting lasted a few minutes, he spent at least half an hour with the Chiefs officials from 23h00.
 
However, he offered little when asked about the pending deal which may have been signed and sealed last night in that meeting.
 
“Mentally, I have made my decision and I will be joining Whoever FC but my focus now is on the national team so I can’t comment,” Gould concludes.
 
He is part of the Bafana squad to play Ethiopia and Botswana in World Cup qualifiers next month.
 

Neeskens: I don’t fear for my future

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Johan Neeskens © Gallo Images

Mamelodi Sundowns coach, Johan Neeskens has told journalists that he is not worried about his future at the club.

Sundowns lost the Nedbank Cup final against rivals and neighbours, Supersport United at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The loss means Sundowns will finish this season without any trophy despite boosting a star-studded dressing room.

“I’m not afraid of what might happen to me in the. There are only two people who decide my future; it’s myself and the president. Right now, I will be going on holiday. I don’t want to talk about my future here,” Neeskens told the media during the post match press conference.

“I don’t want to talk about next year. First we have to think about this game, analyse it tomorrow then everyone can go on holiday except the internationals.”

The Sundowns coach said he will discuss the new season when he returns from holiday in his native land, Netherlands.

The defeat to SuperSport in the Nedbank Cup was a bitter pill to swallow for most of the Sundowns fans.

“If you do not score (your) chances, you don’t win games. Today was a different story; we played against a strong team with 10 men. I think it could have been a different story with 11 players.”

“We tried, the players gave their best but against SuperSport and being one man down, that was hard. At least we tried. It was a difficult game for us. It was too easy for SuperSport – that is football and we have accepted that.”

Sundowns started the season as favourites to win the League. However, following a spate of draws, they fell out of the championship race.

Neeskens said he has been able to establish rapport with his players.

“This was my first year. The players were new to me, I was new to them. Over the season, there were a lot of improvements. Football is decided by scoring goals and we did very well at the start of the season. Then we started not winning games – it doesn’t mean we were bad or we were not playing well, but we were not scoring goals.

“I have enjoyed my first year in South Africa. It is always exciting to start with a new club and new culture. In this league, you have a lot of good teams. I said during the break that the title would be decided on the last game of the season, I was right. The competition means everyone can beat each other, that is a good for the league.”

 

 

Nomvethe steals the show at PSL awards

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Siyabonga Nomvethe © PSL

The ever-green Siyabonga Nomvethe stole the show at Sunday night’s Premier Soccer League End of the season awards.

Nomvethe was the big winner on the evening scooping the coveted PSL Footballer of the Year Award alongside the Absa Premiership Player of the Season, Absa Premiership Players Player of the Season and the Absa Premiership Top Goal Scorer Award.

Nomvethe finished as the League’s top goalscorer with 20 goals. He inspired Moroka Swallows to a tenacious Absa Premiership title chase which they ultimately lost on the last day to Orlando Pirates.

He was honoured together with a host of other outstanding individuals in Johannesburg during the PSL Awards.

“We salute all our players this evening,” said PSL CEO, Stan Matthews.

“It’s been a tough season and we need to recognize the achievements of the players and the PSL Awards does just that.”

“Congratulations to all the winners and nominees,” added Matthews.

Below is a list of winners

Absa Premiership Player of the Season – R150 000

Siyabonga Nomvethe

Absa Premiership Players Player of the Season – R150 000

Siyabonga Nomvethe – Winner

Absa Premiership Goalkeeper of the Season – R50 000

Wayne Sandilands – Winner

Absa Premiership Red Hot Young Player of the Season – R50 000

Ronwen Williams – Winner

Absa Premiership Coach of the Season – R75 000

Gordon Igesund – Winner

Absa Premiership Absa-lutely Awesome Goal of the Season – R50 000 Benni McCarthy – Winner

Absa Premiership Top Goalscorer – R50 000

Siyabonga Nomvethe

NFD Top Goalscorer Award – R50 000

David Radebe

Nedbank Cup Player of the Tournament – R100 000

Nyasha Mushekwi – Winner

Nedbank Cup Young Player of the Tournament – R25 000

Thabiso Nkoana – Winner

Telkom Knockout Player of the Tournament – R200 000

Benni McCarthy – Winner

MTN8 Last Man Standing – R150 000

Oupa Manyisa – Winner

Referee of the Season – R50 000

Victor Hlungwani – Winner

Assistant Referee of the Season – R40 000

Zakhele Siwela – Winner

 

 

Naked man ‘was chewing on victim’s face’

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iol pic wld police line

A Miami police officer fatally shot a naked man who was chewing on the face of another man on a downtown causeway off-ramp, police and witnesses said.

The Miami Herald reports that gunshots were heard at about 2pm on Saturday on the MacArthur Causeway off-ramp, which is near the newspaper’s offices.

Witnesses said that a woman saw two men fighting and flagged down a police officer, who came upon a naked man mauling the other man.

The newspaper quoted witnesses as saying that the officer ordered the naked man to back away, and when he ignored the demand, the officer shot him.

Witnesses said that the naked man continued his attack after being shot once, and the officer shot him several more times.

Police said the other man was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital Ryder Trauma Centre. The newspaper said he had suffered critical injuries.

The police department confirmed in a news release that there was an officer-related shooting, but did not include many details provided by witnesses to the newspaper.

A police spokesman couldn’t be reached for comment by The Associated Press.

The police news release said the identities of the two men were not known. – Sapa-AP