It’s getting a bit tedious but once again there is bad news for Ajax Cape Town to report. With their downward spiral showing no sign of tailing off last night saw them face a trip to Polokwane to take on Kaizer Chiefs. Yes that’s Polokwane. If you were a Chief’s supporter would you fancy the 307 km road journey from Soweto for a home game in Polokwane? In fact with Supersport United (Pretoria) and Black Leopards (Limpopo) also using the facility all of Ajax’s final three away games will be played here. Far from being the white elephant everyone feared the new stadium in the far north of the country is hosting regular PSL football and has had a number of international fixtures also.
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Finally we know the venues where the AFCON 2013 tournament will be held and as expected it has turned out to be yet more bad news for Cape Town Stadium. Five venues have been announced and Cape Town will not be amongst them. The Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane is the other high profile omission from the five newly built World Cup Stadiums. It is surely no surprise given that both Cape Town and Polokwane were the two municipalities that baulked at the financial model SAFA initially imposed on bidding cities at the end of March.
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“We want to be in the top four because we think we deserve to be there. We are a top-four club, especially with what we have achieved over the last couple of years.”
Whatever happens to Santos in this desperate season they will have achieved one thing this season. Their hard fought draw at Cape Town Stadium at the end of February has completely derailed their local rival’s season. Prior to that defining fixture Ajax Cape Town had taken 15 points from 5 games. Afterwards it is just 6 points from ten games. That is relegation form for sure and is almost exactly what happened to Santos last season as they went into a downward spiral that carried on into this season – and just look at their predicament now.
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Here in South Africa it is a fact of footballing life that contracted players can go AWOL. The very term AWOL is often used in the same context as an injury or suspension to explain a player’s absence from a side. It happened last year with Vasco da Gama midfielder Masibusane Zongo, who I cannot ever remember watching play despite seeing many of their home fixtures. Until recently back in the UK the concept of a player going AWOL seemed incomprehensible. When Pierre van Hooijdonk refused to play for Nottingham Forest in 1988 it was a story that shook the country and his entire career and reputation, as recalled by football fans in the UK, is forever tainted by his actions.
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Mamelodi Sundowns have again had a terrible second half to the season and for the second season running find themselves having to play catch-up after surrendering a healthy lead. Although their latest decline has been ongoing for some time it was surprising to hear that they had not won a home game since mid-November. A glimpse of hope then for struggling Santos as they travelled to Pretoria for another difficult afternoon in their PSL survival campaign. The recent victory over Kaizer Chiefs should have given them a huge boost and with their immediate rivals, Black Leopards, out of action due to their CAF campaign this was a chance to move out of the relegation places.
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