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Engen Santos and Ajax Cape Town will inaugurate the world class Cape Town Stadium in Green Point today (Saturday, January 23, 2009).  Kickoff is at 4pm.

Like the inaugural match of the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban in December, this is a test run and only 20 000 tickets were sold.

Cape Town Derby Thriller

It is only fitting that the city of Cape Town chose a classic Cape derby to launch this beautiful 68,000-seat stadium. And football fans can expect a hot contest as The People’s Team try to pull a hat-trick of Cape derby wins, having already defeated the Urban Warriors 2-0 (away) and 1–0 (at home) earlier this season.

We know this is only a friendly so, only bragging rights are up for grabs, but this match at the Cape Town Stadium looks like a real Cape Derby Thriller

Cape Town Stadium – Green Features

The multi-purpose Cape Town stadium boasts special “green” features that is aimed to be completely environmentally-friendly, ensuring optimal water and energy saving.

Engen Santos – Proud to Be Part of History

On their website, Engen Santos captain Mogogi Gabonamong comments, “ Looking at pictures of the new stadium I am sure the game will generate a fantastic atmosphere and as we are playing against our neighbours we are very optimistic that this will become a great event in the history of the city.”

Sharing his sentiments, Engen Santos coach Boebie Solomons said, “ I feel very good (to play first on the new Cape Town Stadium) and with the excellent opposition, I am glad we were invited. I’m proud to be part of history being made with the team playing on such a fantastic surface.”

Sail Stadefrance said from the first press interview that only 20 000 tickets will be available for the opening of the Cape Town Stadium when Ajax Cape town play Santos.

This is an all ticket affair but the organisers did not expect to put up sold-out signs 10 days before the event.

Ajax Cape Town – Cape Town is Fanatical About Football

Shooz Mekuto the Ajax Cape Town PRO said on their website, “We are not surprised by the demand for more tickets. Cape Town is fanatical about football and when Ajax and Santos faced each other in the ABSA Cup final in 2007, the Athlone Stadium was packed to the rafters. This just shows that the support for local football is as passionate as ever.”

Billed as the Cape Town Stadium Soccer Festival, the event is hosted by the City of Cape Town and organised by the stadium’s operators, Sail Stadefrance, and includes live music from top South African Afro-fusion band, Freshlyground.

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The Absa Premiership League is more competitive this year than it has ever been, with interesting developments every week. Football 365.co.za took a look at all this weekend’s matches.

Celtic's Nigerian Striker, Prince Olomu

Bloemfontein Celtic 4  Ajax Cape Town 2

A princely 86th minute goal from Nigerian striker Prince Olomu paved the way for Bloemfontein Celtic’s rousing 4-2 Premier League win over Ajax Cape Town at a sun-scorched Seisa Ramabodu Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

AmaZulu 0  Jomo Cosmos 0

The Premiership relegation battle between struggling AmaZulu and bottom-of-the-log Jomo Cosmos fizzled into a damp squib at a wet Moses Mabhida Stadium with neither side managing to score in a dull 90 minutes.

Bidvest Wits 2  Golden Arrows 1

Goals by Sifiso Myeni and Mark Haskins sunk Golden Arrows and bought Wits their first win in 15 games on Saturday night.  Wits won 2-1 with Myeni netting the opener from the spot in the 25th minute thanks largely to new signing Sifiso Vilakazi. The former Ajax Cape Town hitman earned the penalty following an adjudged foul by Msekeli Mvalo.

SuperSport United 3  Mpumalanga Black Aces 0

SuperSport United maintained their six-point lead at the top of the PSL standings with 3-0 win against Mpumalanga Black Aces at Loftus on Saturday evening.

Sundowns 2 Kaizer Chiefs 1

A late goal from Siyanda Xulu was enough to give Mamelodi Sundowns three crucial points as they beat Kaizer Chiefs 2-1 at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

Santos 0  Orlando Pirates 0

Orlando Pirates were once again held to a goalless draw, this time against Santos, who also slipped further away from the title race at Athlone Stadium on Friday night.

Absa Premier Soccer League Standings

Supersport still tops the table after this weekend with 47 points followed by Sundowns at 41 and Santos at 39 (Sundowns and Santos have only played 22 games – one less than the log leaders).  Kaizer Chiefs is next with 38 points from 23 games with Orlando Pirates on their heels with 37 from 24. Right up behind the leaders are Bloemfontein Celtic and Ajax Cape town – both on 34 points from 24 games.

See the Premier Soccer League Standings

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Action is heating up in the PSL and the matches being played around South Africa this weekend will certainly make a difference for some of the teams who are on the brink of either moving up to become contenders, or who are losing the plot and dropping way down in the standings.

Kaizer Chiefs will wear their new 40th Anniversary Kit for the first time tonight when they host Celtic.

Kaizer Chiefs v Bloemfontein Celtic

Kaizer Chiefs will be sporting their 40th Anniversary kit when they tackle Bloemfontein Celtic at the Super Stadium on Saturday night.

After a poor start to the Season Amakhosi have consistently been picking up speed and hope to make this encounter with Bloemfontein Celtic four on the trot which could see the team move up to second in the PSL standings.

Santos v Lamontville Golden Arrows

Santos have the chance to close the gap on SuperSport United when they entertain Golden Arrows at the Coetzenburg Stadium on Saturday night.

The People’s Team are seven points behind Matsatsantsa and will be looking to their home matches as a source for the points to catch them.

Abafana Bes’thende head have struggled of late and will look to put their slump behind them when they travel to the Western Cape.

Arrows currently find themselves ninth in the standings, and they head into the match against title-hopefuls Santos on the back of a defeat at the hands of fellow strugglers Free State Stars.

SuperSport United v Jomo Cosmos

SuperSport United coach Gavin Hunt is refusing to underestimate Jomo Cosmos when they entertain them at Loftus Versfeld Saturday night.

United currently sit seven points clear at the top, and the team will be looking to Anthony Laffor to continue his fine form following the midfielder’s second brace of the season in Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Moroka Swallows.

Jomo Sono’s charges are currently rock bottom of the PSL standings with the defending champions sitting pretty seven points clear at the top of the standings.

Hunt will have a fully fit squad to choose from and will welcome back midfielder Jabu Maluleke, who returns from suspension.

Free State Stars v Mpumalanga Black Aces

Mpumalanga Black Aces will be hoping that the addition of new striker Darrel Smith will inspire them to victory over Free State Stars at Goble Park at the weekend.

The Mpumalanga outfit are currently second-from-bottom in the PSL standings, but a win on Saturday will see them leapfrog Stars in the table.

AmaZulu v Mamelodi Sundowns

Mamelodi Sundowns will be looking to keep the pressure on SuperSport United with a win over AmaZulu at Moses Mabhida Stadium.

The Brazilians are currently in fifth position after their 1-0 win against Bidvest Wits, nine points behind log leaders SuperSport United.

Maritzburg United v Ajax Cape Town

Ajax Cape Town will be looking to affirm their place in the top four of the league when they take on a confident Maritzburg United side at Woodburn Stadium.

The Urban Warriors go into the match on the back of a 0-0 draw against AmaZulu but they will be buoyed by the possibility that a win might move them from fourth to second of the league.

Bidvest Wits v Moroka Swallows

BidVest Wits’ run of 12 matches without a win can no longer be descried as a slump. Roger de Sa’s men face a crisis and must attain a result against Moroka Swallows on Saturday.

The Clever Boys’ atrocious form has seen them free fall down the table and they now lie 14th, just two points clear of second-from-bottom Mpumalanga Black Aces.

Both sides find themselves in the bottom-half of the standings.

Platinum Stars v Orlando Pirates

Platinum Stars coach Steve Komphela is hoping his side will be on the right end of some well-deserved luck on Saturday when Orlando Pirates are the visitors to the Royal Bafokeng Stadium.

The former Bafana Bafana captain is gaining a reputation for his outbursts against referees. It was his great misfortune therefore when, he was forced to watch as his side went down 3-1 to Kaizer Chiefs on Wednesday due in large part to a dubious penalty decision. Wednesday night’s result was the second time this season against Amakhosi that Komphela could rightly feel aggrieved.

The Buccaneers will be looking for their first away win in over three months when they travel to Platinum Stars for Saturday’s PSL clash in Rustenburg.

Sources and pics: www.football365.co.za and www.soccerladuma.co.za

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At Half-time the Orlando Stadium was in the dark , then the the Lamontville Golden Arrows lit up the Soweto night with their 6-0 drubbing of Ajax Cape Town in the MTN8 Wafa Wafa Finals.

The goals were scored by a Njabulo Manqana brace, Richard Henyekane, Thokozani Msheng, Nhlanhla Zothwane and an own goal from unfortunate Ajax defender Deniss Ivanovs. (The score could look more like a cricket score if not for some great saves by veteran goalkeeper Hans Vonk).

Golden Arrows 2-0 Ahead at Half-Time

Golden Arrows Njabulo Manqana - Man of the Match

At half-time, with Golden Arrows 2-0 ahead, the power failed  that led to a 55-minute long delay.  This is really a disgrace, especially in a Cup Final with R8 million at stake.

From the kick off Manqoba Mngqithi’s men looked like they had fire in their hearts and eThekwini-power in their boots as they showed a determination to bring the silverware back home.

Golden Arrows’ Expansive Play

They launched into the attacking football that has been to the club’s detriment at times. And it was clear Golden Arrows’ expansive play had Ajax on the back foot. These are perfect conditions for Henyekane to start breaking through it everyone knows that it is just a matter of time before the ball off his boot will connect with the back of the net.

The Urban Warriors’ only real chance of the first half was well saved by Helton Da Rocha, who tipped Nhlanhla Shabalala’s header over the bar.

Richard Henyekane Scores

This opportunity came shortly after the restart when the fired up Abafana Bes’thende dominated the field and Richard Henyekane added a third from close-range in the 49th minute.

On the stroke of full-time Manqana dinked past Derek Descamps and chipped the ball past Vonk from a tight angle for his second goal of the night to complete a glorious night for Abafana Bes’thende and a nightmare for Hans Vonk and the Urban Warriors.

MTN8 Wafa Wafa Finals Winner

This means that Golden Arrows win the MTN8 Wafa Wafa Finals and bring back the cup to KwaZulu Natal – oh and don’t forget the check for R8 million.

Man of the Match – Njabulo Manqana

Golden Arrows’ Njabulo Manqana was named man of the match following Arrows emphatic 6-0 win over Ajax Cape Town in the MTN 8 Final.

Lamontville Golden Arrows 6
Ajax Cape Town 0

Arrows Goals: Manqana 9, Ivanovs 20(og), Henyekane 49, Mshengu 66, Zothwane 73, Manqana 90

Photo: Golden Arrows’ Njabulo Manqana soccerladuma.co.za

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The rescheduled MTN Wafa Wafa Super 8 Final will take place this weekend at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto between Ajax Cape Town and Lamontville Golden Arrows.

The final had to be rescheduled to 24 October 2009 after the announcement of the South African squad for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup -due to the fact that the Amajita squad contained five Ajax Cape Town players

Urban Warriors Take on Abafana Bes’thende

Now the Urban Warriors and their youngsters, (who reached the final sixteen in Egypt wit the South African U20 team) are ready to take on Abafana Bes’thende right in the heart of Soweto.

Ajax Players Could Each Get R100 000 for a Win

Ajax Cape Town players who are waiting for their new coach Foppe de Haan to join them have an added incentive – over and above pride – Club CEO George Comitis said the players deserved to be rewarded for their hard work and has promised each of the players a bonus of more than R100 000 if they win the MTN8 Final against Golden Arrows at Orlando Stadium on Saturday night. (Well he promised the players R4 million of the R8 million prize if they bring home the silverware).

For this match, caretaker coach, Jan Pruijn will be on the bench although their new coach, will be there keeping an eye on his new team. He will start his job with Ajax on 2 November.

Ajax Cape Town vs Lamontville Golden Arrows

So what about the match? And is the pitch ok at the Orlando Stadium?

Well. The Amajita laities are full of fire, they are determined the Ajax is going to lift the trophy – (I’m sure they are also thinking of what they will do with the $$)

Talking to KickOff.com the players, who include Thulani Serero, Thulani Hlatshwayo, Sameehg Doutie, George Maluleka and Tawfeeq Salie say they want to win the Cup by all means. Doutie says that they are focused to win the trophy.

“We will be focused on the day. Whether I play or my other teammates play, we all have the same vision, and that is winning the MTN8 Final. We have won other trophies but not the MTN8 and this is our time,” he adds.

Golden Arrows Striker Richard Henyekane

If there is a man on the field who knows he is going to be marked Abafana Bes’thende meet the Urban Warriors, it is Golden Arrows striker Richard Henyekane. However, according to football365, Henyekane is confident Arrows will finish Ajax Cape Town in regulation time.

The Durban outfit will be playing in their first major cup final after ousting Free State Stars and AmaZulu.

The ‘Kimberley Express’ has been in fine form in the cup but has warned the Urban Warriors it would be wrong to only keep an eye on him.

“But if Ajax is going to watch me only then they’ll be making a mistake. We have very good players in every position and each one of them can do damage.”

Transport Arrangements for Ajax and Golden Arrows Supporters from Cape Town and from Durban

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