Cape Town City pulled out all the stops to get fans excited about how they’re going to do things this season.
It wasn’t quite a winning start for the Citizens against the well-drilled defending champions, Mamelodi Sundowns, last week.
But I really admire how they set themselves up for these things.
City introduced the world to Luphumlo “Kaka” Sifumba, who made sure he was remembered at the controversial DStv Compact Cup mini-tournament that was played during the men’s Africa Cup of Nations break.
It seems like they have another one in young striker Luke Daniels. He didn’t look at all out of place against his more experienced and more successful opponents.
This isn’t to knock the performances of other young guns City brought out over the years, it’s just that football is about winning and you only win if you score more goals. It’s thus easier for the goal scorers to be in the headlines.
I hope they’re both protected and achieve what they are set out to achieve.
It would vindicate City’s incredible youth recruitment drive.
They’ve been clear from the onset, they will recruit “the cream of the crop” by age 15 from their partnerships with LFA clubs.
This has positioned them to strike a lot of luck.
Craig Martin, I don’t think there are many stories out there quite like his.
And I say this with respect and recognition of some of the most incredible journeys to professional football.
All of them, from ouens being picked up at hostel and kasi festive tournaments, or schools football, they are all special.
One day, you’re playing amateur football, then next one of South Africa’s greatest ever players throws you into top-flight football!
Before that we had Jomo Sono of course, the guy gave over 30 percent of the players that were in the 1996 African Cup of Nations winning squad their big break.
Mark Fish, Edward Motale, Sizwe Motaung, Linda Buthelezi, Google the other names, you’ll find Philemon Masinga, you’ll even find Mark Williams bra!
All amazing stories. The list before that and after is endless, so Bra J has made a massive contribution to SA diski over the years.
The great Gary Player said it, “you create your own luck” and City have done just that and thankfully things have worked out more that not.
Martin is now a Bafana Bafana player and a member of the club’s exclusive Club 100 is such a great example of the club’s faith in raw talent.
Back to the opening day, which was everything you’d expect from an opening fixture. On the pitch, City’s defence was not at full strength, with Thato Mokeke covering for Taariq Fielies and Nathan Fasika at centerback with both not available.
That’s the beauty about Mokeke, he can fill many positions, which means the team has options depending on who else is available of course.
Sundowns did quite the job stopping Mdu Mdantsane from being as effective as we know we can be. I however fear the other teams won’t have the luxury of deploying a Teboho Mokoena on the City maestro for a full 90 minutes.
Mokoena was awarded the Man of the Match for his efforts as a result of making things difficult for the City No.10.
We saw Khanyisa Mayo taking over the role of playmaker in this clash. The 23-year-old attacker was lively in a free-role which may spell trouble when he and Mdantsane click, as they both have the capabilities of creating chances and scoring.
It’s going to be up to Daniels and Mogamat May to convert those chances into goals. They both missed some really good chances to score against Sundowns so the problem is that the guys didn’t put them away on the night.
City have two unproven strikers at this level, but I admire their faith in the duo of Daniels and May to show Mzansi that they can do business in the top flight.
The other nice thing for them is that City are not the type of club to press panic buttons quickly, so they have the space to work without too much pressure.
But then again it also won’t help them if they are too humble because the club and coach Eric Tinkler have ambitions of pushing for a trophy this season.
We’re obviously desperate to see the next Benni, Shaun Bartlett and Mark Williams from our beloved team, but I won’t put that kind of pressure on these guys for now, however I can’t hide the fact that I’m excited with what I’ve seen so far.