Kaizer Chiefs have completed the signing of Ghanaian junior international defender Jonathan Quartey today in a deal which sees the 19 year old central defender put pen to paper in a 4 year deal with Chiefs.
Quartey who was on trial with The Amakhosi all of last week, impressed coach Muhsin Ertugral during his week long trial, which included him featuring in 2 friendly games for The Amakhosi. Part of Quartey's trial saw the young highly competitive and combatitive defender feature for Chiefs during their penalty shoot out Telkom Charity Cup loss to arch rivals Orlando Pirates.
Quartey had a sound game in defense. Quartey who is now a member of the Olympic team,the Black Meteors was part of the Ghanaian U17 team that qualified for the 2005 FIFA U17 World Cup played in Peru.
Amakhosi team manager Bobby Motaung said that that Quartey has impressed the Kaizer Chiefs technical team with his attitude on and off field. Jonathan impressed us with his over all work rate and commitment during his week long trial and that resulted in us making him an offer to become part of the Kaizer Chiefs family. Chiefs coach Muhsin Ertugral thinks that Quartey possess the credentials to go a long way and help Chiefs achieve success in both the long and short term.
05 August 2007
An early goal blitz set Tunisians CS Sfaxien en route to a surprisingly easy 4-0 triumph over Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa in the CAF Confederation Cup this weekend.
Powerful forwards Blaise Kouassi and Blaise Mbele ran riot to give the CAF Champions League 2006 runners up a 3 goal lead after 29 minutes. Sundowns squandered several chances to reduce arrears in this Mediterranean city, before Guinean Naby Soumah completed the success 4 minutes into stoppage time at a packed 20,000-seater Tayeb Mhiri Stadium.
Sfaxien have 4 points after 2 Group A games having drawn 1-1 at Astres Douala of Cameroon 2 weeks ago, whilst Sundowns have 3 after a dramatic 3-2 home win over Tout Puissant Mazembe.
Mazembe host Astres in Kinshasa later today and boosted by the presence of Mputu Mabi, scorer of 13 goals in African competitions this year, expect to win and share 2nd spot with Sundowns.
The Tunisians harassed their South African opponents from the kick-off, forcing the visitors to continuously concede possession cheaply. A Sfaxien side coached by Swiss Michel Decastel used a mix of long and short passes to carve holes in the Sundowns defence.
When Sundowns failed to clear a throw-in, Kouassi stroked a loose ball over the line to give his team a 2nd minute lead and Mbele, who played for South African club Orlando Pirates last year, added a 2nd after 8 minutes. The thid Sfaxien goal in the 29th minute exposed the defensive weakness of Sundowns as Kouassi rose between 2 motionless defenders and headed past goalie Calvin Marlin into the corner of the net.
Sundowns coach Gordon Igesund introduced Lungisani Ndlela at half time and the rangy front runner troubled the Tunisian defence only to be thwarted by the acrobatics of stand in goalie Lotfi Saidi. And after surviving sustained load from the South Africans which deserved a goal, Sfaxien grabbed a 4th when Soumah fired home from close range after Marlin blocked his 1st attempt off a cross.
In Group B, Al-Merreikh of Sudan beat Dolphin of Nigeria 6-1 in a top of the table clash in Omdurman, and Ismailia of Egypt came from behind to draw 1-1 with Kwara United of Nigeria in Ilorin.
28 July 2007
Tottenham's good pre season form continued with a 3-0 triumph over Orlando Pirates in the Vodacom Challenge Final.
2 goals from summer signing Darren Bent sandwiched an effort from Dimitar Berbatov as Spurs cruised home in South Africa.
Shortly after Bent's rasping shot was pushed wide by Pirates keeper Francis Chansa the former Addicks forward smashed home on 11 minutes.
Spurs were looking in good touch and some good persistence from Bent robbed defender Destin Makita before he rolled into the path of Berbatov who scored with ease.
Just 3 minutes later Bent had his 2nd of the game when Adel Taarabt back-heeled into the path of the forward who showed good composure to slot home.
Spurs naturally had taken their foot off the pedal in the 2nd half, even though the Pirates enhanced their game, however it mattered not as Spurs claimed the trophy.
25 July 2007
New club record signing Darren Bent opened his account for Spurs as the English club won a 2nd match on their South Africa tour, triumphing over Orlando Pirates 2-1 in Cape Town Tuesday.
Bent, who joined Spurs for 16.5 million pounds ($33m) from Charlton, opened the scoring with a 12th minute strike, triumphing over the offside trap to chip over goalie Francis Chansa.
Wayne Routledge got the 2nd for the English side 6 minutes from the end when he drilled home from close range after being left unmarked at the back post.
Pirates got a consolation penalty straight after however needed to take it 3 times before finding the net through Joseph Kamwendo.
Spurs goalie Radek Cerny saved twice however moved forward off his line twice before the kick was taken.
Spurs play their final game on Saturday in Pretoria against the winner of Thursday's clash between Pirates and arch rivals Kaizer Chiefs.
Spurs beat Chiefs 2-1 in the opening match of the pre season tournament in Durban last Saturday.
13 June 2007
South African clubs are taking advantage of the end of a busy European season and have invited 2 of the most recognisable continental teams to play in the country.
Mamelodi Sundowns said that they could be playing Spanish giants FC Barcelona in South Africa in an international friendly. The match will be played on 20 June 2007 at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria. The city and the stadium will also host the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup.
President of Mamelodi Sundowns, Patrice Motsepe, will also be inviting 10 young players per province to be the guests of the club for the game. In doing so, he mentioned he expects that "this will be an inspiration to want to be part of the national team."
FC Barcelona will be fielding a nearly full-strength team, with the notable exception of Lionel Messi. This is inspite of the fact that FC Barcelona are currently in a tight race with Real Madrid and Sevilla for the Spanish League title. Depending on the result, the South African league champions could be playing the Spanish League champions.
Motsepe confirm Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto'o could be playing, as well as captain Carles Puyol, Deco, Liliam Thuram, Gianluca Zambrotta, Edmilson and Xavi. He added that "as Sundowns are nicknamed the Brazilians, it could be a tragic not to have a Brazilian playing."
The FC Barcelona and Mamelodi Sundowns collaboration is in aid of UNICEF and the Nelson Mandela Children's Fund.
In July, Spurs will be touring South Africa and playing PSL stalwarts Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs. They will play a round robin tournament with the top 2 teams playing in a Final. In last year's final, Man Utd narrowly lost on penalties to Kaizer Chiefs.
08 June 2007
Star forward Benni McCarthy was left out of a South Africa team named Thursday for an African Nations Cup qualifier in Congo next weekend.
The leading scorer for English Premier League club Blackburn Rovers last season was ignored after snubbing 1994 Brazil FIFA World Cup winning coach Carlos Alberto Parreira by refusing to turn up for another qualifier this month against Chad.
McCarthy mentioned he would not play again for 2010 FIFA World Cup hosts South Africa until a national football association official apologised for alleged criticism of the striker, whose last national team apperance was 17 months ago.
Benni says that he was made the scapegoat by delegation leader Mohamed Mubarak after Bafana Bafana (The Boys) fared disastrously at the 2006 Nations Cup, losing to Guinea, Tunisia and Zambia in Egypt without scoring a goal.
However, this was dismissed as a smokescreen by some observers who said McCathy does not want to play at the 2008 tournament in Ghana, assuming South Africa qualify, because it would jeopardise his 1st team place at Blackburn.
Since bursting on to the international stage by scoring 9 goals at the 1998 Nations Cup, Benni has dreamt of playing in England and achieved the goal last year after spells in the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal.
Parreira has added uncapped Orlando Pirates defender Innocent Mdledle to the team which beat Chad 4-0 in Durban and recalled another member of the Olympic squad, forward Lerato Chabungu from champions Mamelodi Sundowns.
South Africa top Group 11 with 10 points, 3 more than Zambia and 5 ahead of Congo, and will be seeking a 3rd win in 4 visits to the centre of the Congolese oil industry.
