Kick Off

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KICK OFF • Orlando Pirates’ Paseka Mako in action during the MTN8 semifinal second leg Soweto Derby.

Kick Off

Selling of PSL franchises makes a mockery of the League

LETTERS to the editor

THE MONTH THAT WAS

‘He’ll leave you for dead’ • From being a part-time footballer who held a job at Ngezi Platinum mine, it has been a meteoric rise for Terrence Dzvukamanja as he has shot his way up the footballing ladder. For all the doubts that came with his move to Orlando Pirates at the start of this season, he has already shown that this transfer could turn out to be solid gold. KICK OFF’s Lovemore Moyo details his emergence.

PIRATES’ ZIMBABWE-CONNECTION

FOOTBALL MAD FAMILY

‘I felt like giving up’ • Kermit Erasmus had been linked with a move to Mamelodi Sundowns for some time and now that it has finally happened, he is keen to make this season the best of his career, promising goals galore with The Brazilians. But his career has not always been on an upwards curve, as he tells KICK OFF’s Lovemore Moyo.

LIMITED BAFANA APPEARANCES

TOP PSL SCORERS

Who has the Golden Gloves? • With Itumeleng Khune and Daniel Akpeyi both back to fitness in a fresh season under new coach Gavin Hunt, the question becomes, who should be given the nod between the two? Akpeyi was loud in his quest to be played when he was the regular last term, but then dislodging Khune at a club where he is a legend is a difficult task. In the first two league matches of the season the two goalkeepers were both given a chance. But as the campaign progresses, the question is who will become first-choice. KICK OFF’s Lovemore Moyo investigates.

THE BATTLE OF THE NATIONAL TEAM JERSEY

The best and worst of all-time • As we enter the 25th season of South Africa’s elite domestic competition following it’s relaunch as the Premier League in the 1996/97 campaign, it is time to reflect on the numbers that tell us which clubs have been the best, worst and painfully average in the last two-and-a-half decades. KICK OFF’s Nick Said has compiled an all-time table for the competition that illustrates the successes and failures of clubs down the years.

OTHER MILESTONES ON THE WAY • A number of clubs are approaching some milestone numbers in the PSL that they will hope to reach in the coming months:

History of the Chiefs hot-seat • In Part 2 of our feature on the history of the Kaizer Chiefs hot-seat, KICK OFF’s Mark Gleeson takes a look at the records of the club’s coaches in the Premier Soccer League era. There has generally been greater patience with tacticians in this era, which new incumbent Gavin Hunt will hope continues as he looks to take the team out of the longest trophyless run in the club’s 50-year history.

‘I had to leave Pirates’ • Not only does Musa Nyatama have an exceptional football brain that has helped him enjoy a 13-year professional career, but he also carries wisdom in how he talks. Now at new club Swallows FC, the Birds will reap the benefits of his experience and guidance, as he explains why he had to leave Orlando Pirates last season. The midfielder speaks to KICK OFF’s Lovemore Moyo.

DEALING WITH PEER PRESSURE

ZLATAN IBRAHIMOVIC AC MILAN

Tefu Mashamaite My Dream Team

The greatest game • It may be the greatest game ever played in South Africa as Moroka Swallows and Kaizer Chiefs slugged it out in a 10-goal thriller in the semifinals of the 1980 Mainstay Cup that had plenty of pre-match trash-talk, some brilliant saves and no shortage of drama. KICK OFF’s Mark Gleeson opens up the archives to remember the match 40 years on.

Buying your way to the top • New kids on the block Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila...