Disk mania bw

Bafana get Zebras in Cosafa

South Africa will meet Botswana in the quarterfinals of the 2015 Cosafa Cup after the draw for the competition to be played in the North West province was made on Thursday.

Bafana Bafana will meet The Zebras on May 25, and could yet need to beat one of the powerhouses of the continent if they are to lift the title after Ghana were announced as a guest nation along with Tanzania.

Those two gained entry after Angola and Comoros declined their invitations to compete in the regional championship this year.

Ghana must wait to know their quarterfinal opponent, which will be the winner of Group B that contains Seychelles, Madagascar, Mauritius and Swaziland.

Holders Zambia also face an anxious wait as they will take on the top team in Group B, which could potentially set up a crunch meeting with Zimbabwe, who they have met in the last two tournament finals.

The other sides in that pool are Namibia, Lesotho and Tanzania.

The fourth quarterfinal sees Mozambique play Malawi.

The pool phase will begin on May 17 and finish on May 22, with the cup semifinals to be played on May 24 & 25. There will also be a plate competition for the losing quarterfinalists.

Zimbabwe and Zambia have each won the Cosafa Cup on four occasions, with South Africa and Angola the only other teams to have claimed a tournament win. They have three titles each.

South Africa’s last win came in 2008.

2015 COSAFA CUP FIXTURES

Group A 17/05 - Namibia vs Zimbabwe 17/05 - Lesotho vs Tanzania 19/05 - Zimbabwe vs Lesotho 19/05 - Namibia vs Tanzania 21/05 - Namibia vs Lesotho 21/05 - Zimbabwe vs Tanzania

Group B 18/05 - Seychelles vs Mauritius 18/05 - Madagascar vs Swaziland 20/05 - Mauritius vs Madagascar 20/05 - Seychelles vs Swaziland |22/05 - Seychelles vs Madagascar 22/05 - Mauritius vs Swaziland

KNOCKOUT STAGES

Quarterfinals 24/05 - Ghana vs Winner Group B 24/05 - Mozambique vs Malawi 25/05 - Zambia vs Winner Group A 25/05 - South Africa vs Botswana

• Chelsea are set to challenge Manchester United for the signature of Southampton and England right-back Nathaniel Clyne, 23.

• Manchester United will listen to offers at the end of the season for defender Rafael, 24, as manager Louis van Gaal prepares a clearout.

• Ivory Coast midfielder Cheick Tiote, 28, may have played his last game for Newcastle after being ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

• Watford are considering signing former Aston Villa and Bolton defender Zat Knight, 34, after taking him on trial.

• Winger Emanuele Giaccherini, 29, has a future at Sunderland despite an injury-hit two years at the club, manager Gus Poyet says.

• Manchester United striker Robin van Persie, 31, is set to be out for a month with the ankle injury he suffered during last Saturday's defeat at Swansea.

• Arsenal's owners will allow manager Arsene Wenger to spend £50m this summer - but are expecting a significantly improved performance from him.

• Liverpool are ready to give winger Jordon Ibe, 19, a five-year contract that will more quadruple his pay to around £25,000 a week.

• Chelsea striker Diego Costa, 26, says he will not change the way he plays despite a recent three-match ban imposed for stamping on Liverpool's Emre Can.

• Burnley striker Ashley Barnes, 25, should ignore the criticism he has received from Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho over his "criminal" challenge on Nemanja Matic, according to his manager Sean Dyche.

• Newcastle interim manager John Carver says it is his decision - and not the board's - as to whether winger Jonas Gutierrez, 31, returns to play on Saturday after overcoming testicular cancer.

• Carver has suggested he would be happy if Aston Villa were relegated in May - after they sent Newcastle down in 2009.

• Aston Villa striker Christian Benteke, 24, has been staying behind at training for extra shooting practice to try to improve his season's goal total of three.

• Lionel Messi in birthday mode Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, 27, celebrated the birthday of his partner Antonella Roccuzzo by posting a selfie on Instagram with their son Thiago.

• Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge tweeted after his side went out of the Europa League to Besiktas: "Another big game on Sunday. Thank you to all the away fans that travelled to show support tonight. We were unlucky."

• Sunday Times journalist David Walsh was scathing about the performance of English clubs in Europe this week, posting on Twitter: "I watched City flounder, Arsenal crumble, now Spurs, Liverpool. The Premier League has to be the most exciting illusion in sport's history."

LAST 16 DRAW

- Vasco Da Gama vs Maluti FET - Golden Arrows vs Natal United - Ajax Cape Town vs Bloemfontein Celtic - Bidvest Wits vs University of Pretoria - Kaizer Chiefs vs Black Leopards - SuperSport United vs Orlando Pirates - Mpumalanga Black Aces vs Jomo Cosmos - Platinum Stars vs Mamelodi Sundowns

3 September 2013

Neymar : "I came here to help Lionel Messi."

Gareth Bale: "I hope to win Real Madrid’s tenth European Cup."



2015

Bale:- I'm happy to have won La decima for Real Madrid in my 1st Season.

Neymar:- Lionel Messi is better than Cristiano Ronaldo.

• Wolfsburg winger Kevin De Bruyne, 23, says he would be open to a Premier League return, with Manchester United mulling a £30m bid for the former Chelsea player.

• Liverpool and Manchester United are on red alert after Brazil defender Danilo, 23, turned down a new deal at Porto.

• Tottenham want to sign Monaco defender Aymen Abdennour, 25, and the Tunisia international says he would consider a move.

• Manchester United's Andreas Pereira, 19, could be set for a move to Juventus after the Brazilian attacking midfielder rejected a new contract.

• West Ham have handed a trial to 18-year-old striker Robert Lipovac, who plays for BK Hacken in Sweden.

• Tottenham winger Aaron Lennon, 27, is keen to seal a permanent switch to Everton following his loan move - but the Merseyside club could be put off by his £7m price tag.

• Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger branded his side's defensive performance "suicidal" after their 3-1 defeat by Monaco in their Champions League last-16 first leg.

• Manchester United goalkeeper David De Gea has not spoken to manager Louis van Gaal for months and is stalling on signing a new contract at Old Trafford. Their relations have reportedly turned frosty.

• In the wake of team-mate Jack Wilshere's smoking controversies, Arsenal's Olivier Giroud says every football team contains "four or five" smokers.

• Fifa's Financial Fair Play rules could be scrapped if a football agent wins a landmark Brussels court case.

• Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany has dismissed television criticisms of his display in his side's 2-1 defeat by Barcelona in Tuesday's Champions League last-16 first leg.

• Broadcasting chiefs at BT Sport are examining their contract with Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho after the channel's star ambassador appeared on rival channel Sky Sports to lament refereeing decisions against his team.

• Referees' chief Mike Riley led a failed peace mission to placate Mourinho after the Chelsea manager publicly bemoaned the performance of officials.

• Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino has not yet decided which players to include for Thursday's Europa League match against Fiorentina, with Spurs facing Chelsea in the League Cup final three days later.

• Danny Rose earned 29 England under-21 caps, but believes he is far away from becoming a regular in the senior team

• Chelsea's Eden Hazard has warned Tottenham's players before Sunday's final that kicking him will not put him off his game.

• Everton midfielder Gareth Barry says the Toffees' only hope of returning to Europe next season is to win the Europa League.

• Former Lyon boss Remi Garde is keen to take the Newcastle manager's job at the end of the season and remains a strong contender for the post.

• Hull's Irish midfielder David Meyler praised the performance of Ireland's cricket team at the World Cup on Twitter, writing: "Not long before the sport takes off in Ireland!"

• Former Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro has been handed a 10-month jail sentence after breaking a police seal to enter his former home for a swim.

Fifa won’t compensate Uefa clubs

World football governing Fifa insist they won’t compensate European clubs should the 2022 World Cup in Qatar be moved to the end of the year.

A Fifa taskforce committee yesterday held a meeting to discuss the possibility of moving the World showpiece to November/December, which was followed by an outcry from many European heavyweights, who feel the proposed dates will severely interfere with the domestic football calendar.

Ekstein Gets An Improved Deal

Kaizer Chiefs’ decision to hand midfielder, Hendrick Ekstein, a new, improved contract at the club could be a sign that he may be set to feature more for the Amakhosi.

The 24-year-old midfield man put in a fine cameo performance during the Glamour Boys’ 4-0 Nedbank Cup win over Edu Sports this past weekend, and it was reported in today’s issue of Soccer Laduma that he has been handed a new contract at Naturena.

“He is one of the most talented midfielders at Chiefs at the moment. At the start of the season he was promoted, but they were still using an academy contract. The club has now given him a three-year first team contract.

“The coach believes in him and soon he will feature for the first team and people will see what a great player he is. His contract will run until 2018 and they don’t want to loan him out as the coach really wants him to play here.”

The decision to improve Ekstein’s deal may well be a sign that head coach, Stuart Baxter, will be looking to make more use of the midfielder over the coming weeks as the club challenge for the Absa Premiership, Nedbank Cup and CAF Champions League.

Pellegrini: There’s Still Hope, Thanks To Messi For Showing Some Mercy

Manchester City boss Manuel Pellegrini says that Lionel Messi's missed penalty gives his side hope to launch a comeback against FC Barcelona in the second-leg of their UEFA Champions League Round of 16 battle.

The 61-year-old, who joined the Manchester club in 2013, didn’t seem full of confidence ahead of the second-leg on 18 March, reluctantly saying that his team will try their best.

"If Messi had put his penalty away, it would have been far worse,” he told AS. “It’s going to be difficult to turn this around because we have lost the home leg. But the team has sufficient character and personality to at least try."

Orlando Pirates shot-stopper, Siyabonga Mpontshane has informed the Siya crew that he is under no pressure to emulate the feats of the late Senzo Meyiwa and, that he is there to contribute towards Pirates’ success in his own way.

• AmaZulu coach Steve Barker has faith his misfiring strikeforce will turn the corner.

• Mamelodi Sundowns striker Cuthbert Malajila always scores against AmaZulu, so says Brazilians coach Pitso Mosimane. Malajila, who also has nine assists in all competitions, joined Lehlohonolo Majoro, Moeketsi Sekola and Puleng Tlolane at the top of the Absa Premiership scoring charts.

• Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane says he will continue pairing Ramahlwe Mphahlele and Alje Schut together after their stellar performances in recent games.

• Moses Mabhida Stadium manager Vusi Mazibuko believes it’s too early to start talking about their next tenant as AmaZulu might still survive relegation. Except for the cup finals that have been played at the venue as well as a few Bafana Bafana matches, AmaZulu are the only tenant for the Moses Mabhida Stadium. With 11 games to go before the end of the season, Usuthu are lying at the bottom of the standings with a mere nine points – nine points behind 15th-placed Platinum Stars. If Usuthu gets relegated, the stadium will have to look for other tenants.

• Mamelodi Sundowns have appealed to their fans to make their presence felt in Saturday's Champions League clash with St. Michel at Lucas Moripe Stadium.

• Manzini says he is ready to play as many games as possible at Bloemfontein Celtic, after having a chat with his head coach Clinton Larsen. Lerato Manzini re-joined Phunya Sele-Sele from SuperSport United during the January Transfer Window after a disappointing loan spell with Matsatsantsa.

• Pirates are still monitoring Zambian duo, Kondwani Mtonga and Roderick Kabwe, and could be waiting for Mtonga's contract to expire.

• Young goalkeeper Jody February says he was so excited he could not sleep the night before making his first team debut for Ajax Cape Town in the Nedbank Cup. February debutised in the Urban Warriors’ demolition job of Mainstay United, conceding just once in a 9-1 drubbing of their lower league opposition. The 18-year-old, who was only promoted to the Ajax first team in September last year after his impressive displays in the MultiChoice Diski Challenge, was thrilled at making his senior bow in the Nedbank Cup over the weekend.

• Polokwane City coach Kostadin Papic says he’s hoping his troops translate their impressive Absa Premiership form into the Nedbank Cup.

• A source close to Kaizer Chiefs has explained that George Lebese will remain at the club for the foreseeable future, despite his current off-the-field issues. However, it seems that the incident will not affect his long-term future at Naturena, with a the source explaining that the player is very close to football manager, Bobby Motaung, and has no intention of leaving the club.

• Sundowns striker, Nyasha Mushekwi, started a trial at Swedish club, Djurgardens, today and could be set for a loan move to the Allsvenskan.

• Ajax are considering making a permanent move for Malawian striker, Robin Ngalande, who is currently on loan from Wits.

• Amajita goalkeeper, Sibongiseni Mkhize, has been given a four-year contract extension at SuperSport United.

• Sundowns board member, Dan Simelane, has tendered his resignation at the club.

• Mamelodi Sundowns are monitoring Tuks striker, Geoffrey Massa.

• Thato Mokeke is expected to miss the rest of the PSL season after fracturing his tibia in training.

2nd Leg

Township Rollers vs Kaizer Chiefs (South Africa) 28/02/15 National Stadium Kickoff:1500hrs

1-2 agg

Karim Benzema joins Leo Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as the only players who have scored against ALL 19 clubs currently in the

ABSA Premiership Fixture | Tuesday, February 24, 2015

19:30 - AmaZulu v Mamelodi Sundowns