Sundowns' coach impressed by his key player leadership qualities

(Source: www.goal.com)

Mamelodi Sundowns can find themselves in good and commanding positions on and off the pitch. It's not known easy to be on top of the game for almost a decade. Hence, the technical team will need the players' buy-in at all times. When they have senior players in their squad then they will look into getting them involved in leadership roles. Not everything is about being known, some players enjoy doing their work in silence and let their work do the talking. This is what the Sundowns fringe star Bongani Zungu is doing at Chloorkop, as he is regarded as a player-coach.

Although it's something that comes within the player to bring value into the value, some of them don't do it for extra income. It's a matter of cementing their stay in such a prestigious establishment and they know that there's longevity at Sundowns. After fans questioned the re-signing of Zungu to Downs, now Rulani Mokwena has set the record straight. As he stated the talented midfielder is more than just a player as he's regarded as a leader. Which is an exceptional attribute that will make him stand out from the rest of the squad. "He organises the team and [does] a lot of coaching on the pitch, and these are some of the things you don’t see. He is selfless; he’s a good human being. Bongz looks after the younger ones and the team," said Mokwena speaking to the media.

'Ben 10' as he's affectionately known in the football fraternity, has made 39 appearances in Tshwane Giants. He's been mostly used as a super substitute and comes in just after the half-hour mark. Then had to control the competitive Sundowns midfield and lead them to work together. Surely, he would love to play more often, but at the same time, he can use his experience to benefit the young players.

Pirates rising star seen with a new car and wearing English Premier League club jersey

(Source: www.snl24.com)

Orlando Pirates rising star Relebohile Mofokeng has been spotted on social media sharing his different victories. Even possibly shared a hint that he might be on his way overseas. One thing for sure is that Mofokeng is having a great time in his football career and he's slowly becoming a household name. As the fans enjoy seeing him play for the Buccaneers as he's able to assist in attack and can take on opponents. Which allows him to increase Pirates opportunities of scoring goals, since he's an attack-minded player.

In most cases, the fans have seen the teenage sensation on the pitch, but not behind the scenes. This time around he shared a photo of him standing next to a silver Volkswagen Polo which cost approximately R540 000. It's a the famous Polo GTI that most footballers get as their first cars. The VW car ranges are between R340 000 and a million, which means most footballers can afford it as they get a lot money each month. Also, on top of that they got sponsors and partnerships with different brands that bring more money.

It's always amazing seeing a youngster achieving his goals and he can even play overseas if he carries on with the same winner's mentality. On another photo, the 19-year-old star was seen with his teammates Thabiso Sesane wearing an English Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves) jersey which might be a hint that he's on his way out of Mayfair. As he wants to begin his overseas career and get to live his dream abroad. Also, at the beginning of the campaign he was on a trial with Wolves.

Sundowns' coach spoke about their new signing before the Pirates game

(Source: www.idiskitimes.co.za)

Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns will battle for the all-important maximum points at Loftus Verfeld Stadium on Saturday night. What's on everyone's mind is the availability of the former Pirates star Thembinkosi Lorch who recently made headlines for signing for their arch-rivals Downs. There have been videos of him preparing for his new journey at Chloorkop. Now, it would be interesting to see if he'll be part of the side that will face his former team. Although it would be a bitter-sweet moment for Nyoso as he's been part of the Soweto giants for almost a decade.

Nevertheless, the Downs head coach Rulani Mokwena has spoken about this matter as the fans are wondering if he'll make his debut against his former side. Lorch does have information about his former teammates which can be used when he's on the pitch. Surely, it might be a gamble that Mokwena would want to take just for the sake of three points. As he knows that an attack-minded player has the ability to destroy the opponents. But Mokwena feels thar he'll Jace to battle for his position in the starting eleven, nothing will be given on a silver platter. “Lorch comes into the team, and he knows he has to earn the right to play,” he told local journalists.

Furthermore, the Tshwane giants do have a deadly attack which will give the coaches a headache when it comes to choosing their starting eleven. The 30-year-old star has been looking fit, despite all the challenges he had go through last year. "He has to fight like everybody else has to fight for a place in this team and meritocracy is such an important part of my coaching principles," said the Downs coach speaking to the media.

Johnson gives an update on the Chiefs' captain

(Source: www.idiskitimes.co.za)

The Kaizer Chiefs caretaker coach Cavin Johnson has spoken about the absence of his captain Itumeleng Khune. The fans have been wondering about his availability since he's been a key player at Naturena over the years. His presence cannot be ignored as he's been part of the Soweto Giants for over a decade now. When Chiefs battled against Royal AM at Harry Gwala Stadium this past Sunday, Khune wasn't part of the travelling squad. He was suspended due to allegedly arriving to training drunk last year which has put him in a difficult position with the club.

According to Johnson, nothing has changed about Itu's situation as he remains off the radar. It's still not clear when he'll be available for selection as he's currently keeping fit in the comfort of his home. What surprised fans was that Khune was part of the PSL All-Star XI in the Carling Label Cup whereby he showed the reason behind he's one of the most popular goalkeepers in Africa. This was due to his work on the pitch, as he's able to begin an attack from the back and he can pinpoint players that can assist in his game plans.

On top of that, he's able to adjust his defense in a way that the opponents cannot break it. Sadly, the Chiefs fans will have to wait for the club to announce his future. At the moment, it's not clear if he'll be playing for Amakhosi for the remainder of the season or not. Nevertheless, the Soweto giants still have the likes of Bruce Bvuma and Brandon Petersen handling the goalkeeping department. “He’s still in the same situation that you guys find in the media and the club will do something once that is done,” Johnson said in the post-match against Royal AM.

The talking point in the Pirates and Sundowns game: Did Miguel deserve the red card?

(Source: Twitter.com - @NanguSompisi)

The football fraternity has been divided when it comes to the red card that was given to Miguel Timm in the previous weekend clash of the heavyweights. As Mamelodi Sundowns were able to get an upper hand in terms of numbers Orlando Pirates, as they appealed for a foul on their goalkeeper Ronwen Williams when he was still in his box trying to begin a counterattack. That's when Timm and his teammate Olisa Ndah obstructed him which caused a delay in the attack. Also, Williams wasn't pleased with the whole incident as he felt that it wasn't necessary for an opposition player to be impatient when the play began at Downs back.

Looking at the replays and screenshots, it's visible that the Pirates midfielder shouldn't have tried to impede the shot-stopper in his own half. Although the fans were arguing about the fact that Williams wasn't touched by any Buccaneers player, but he had all the rights to raise the incident to the match officials. Even though Timm was already booked, he should have done better, since he knows how football works. The opposition plan worked, as they were able to get one Pirates player removed, but that didn't necessarily they would win the game.

Also, when the referee reversed the yellow card that given to Ndah despite being part of the Pirates players that were involved in obstructing Williams from releasing the ball from his hands. It wasn't even a danger zone, for the Buccaneers players to cause any unnecessary fouls. Although the match finished on a 1-1 draw, Sundowns will look back at this game and wonder what they could have done better to walk away with a victory.

Former Chiefs player talks about Sundowns recent addition

(Source: www.goal.com)

The former Kaizer Chiefs winger Junior Khanye has shared a few words around Mamelodi Sundowns recent signing Thembinkosi Lorch. After making a debut against Orlando Pirates at Loftus Verfeld Stadium this past weekend which wasn't expected for him to walk into the starting eleven. However, his showing has impressed Khanye who felt that he's a great addition at Chloorkop. Also, he'll a superb competition for the Downs deputy captain Themba Zwane who has been playing more games within the club. Although, he needed to be rested after he part of the bronze winning Bafana Bafana side at the African Cup of Nations.

This has given Lorch an opportunity to be getting game time which is what he needs to show why Rulani Mokwena signed him from the Buccaneers. Especially when there was an age factor, but Sundowns plans per season, and they'll recruit all the necessary players that they need at that time. As they're competing in the CAF Champions League and also, the Premier Soccer League (PSL). They have a tough schedule which will require a squad rotation, so that everyone gets a chance to play. “Lorch did very well, he fitted like a glove. There is competition for ‘Mshishi’ [Themba Zwane] now,” Khanye told iDiski TV as per Phakaaathi.

As time goes, the Downs technical team might want to try something different and pair both Lorch and Zwane together in their attack. Who knows maybe they might feed off each other's energies and end up becoming an impressive duo. “He [Zwane] is a legend for Sundowns, but now there is someone [also] there with a high profile who does well for himself. He was dynamic and he played well off the ball,” said Khanye speaking to the media.

Covid-19: The lack of transparency

The Covid-19 pandemic has destroyed people’s lives beyond imagination, and it’s an era in this world that will forever be written in history. Unfortunately, millions of people had to be lost during this whole process. One would feel this could have been avoided if the health departments, government and pharmaceutical companies were transparent with all the information concerning the deadly virus. That’s the least people deserve, rather than being kept in the dark and even allegedly manipulated into believing certain fabricated findings of Covid-19. Even though this is still a developing virus that needs to be constantly studied, the information found in every study shouldn’t be kept a secret from the public. This is one of the things that‘s making the Coronavirus easily transmitted from person to person, which is a lack of knowledge within different communities.

When some individuals do their research about the virus and present some shocking findings on social media, they end up being called conspiracy theorists. Even though they’re trying to open the citizens' eyes about Covid-19, they feel that some don’t add up with the information that they keeping from their governments and healthcare services. It’s ideal to question things in life as that will lead to curiosity and you end up getting schooled by different people. Ever since Covid-19 hit the shores of different countries, there have been people that didn’t take any vaccine-associated with the virus which are called anti-vaxxers. Ideally, the vaccine was created to stop the high spread of Coronavirus and millions of doses have been taken by people across the world. Even when the vaccine was created faster than normal, the anti-vaxxers didn’t feel that it was allegedly good to be injected on human bodies. As the pharmaceutical companies that made the vaccines made sure that they put a disclaimer on their doses that they’re not held legally responsible for any side effects that pro-vaxxers experience every time they take jabs.

One would think that was enough to make people shy away from taking vaccines, however, most of them believe by seeing. As they’ve gone on to get jabbed, and whatever happens after that it’s their problem. Even though some countries tried to enforce the vaccine on their citizens, by introducing the vaccine certificate. This meant that some companies will employ people that are vaccinated, and if some employees are not vaccinated, then they will have to get the jab or stand to lose their occupations. All those people that are constantly travelling, had to be vaccinated so that they can move around the world. There are even certain places that don’t allow unvaccinated people, which was some of the tactics used to corner anti-vaxxers into buying into an alleged ‘New World Order’. Some anti-vaxxers were able to fold, however, they’re currently regretting their decision. After the recent Pzifer Covid-19 vaccine alleged side effects were leaked, which has caused a massive concern to the public.

According to the Covid-19 vaccine side effects are as per NICD.AC.ZA, people can experience pain, swelling, or redness where the vaccine was injected. Meanwhile, others have mild fever, chills, feeling tired, headache, muscle and joint aches. These were the side effects that the public has been familiar with over the past two years. Little did they know that there’s more to it than what meets the eyes, which requires people to see what’s happening with the world. According to reports, the Coronavirus has over 1 280 side effects, allegedly – including multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, neonatal seizure, thrombotic cerebral infarction, pancreatitis, pneumonia, lobe epilepsy, myocarditis, testicular autoimmunity, etc.

Cyberbullying: It’s everyone’s problem

 

The 21st Century has seen numerous people complain about cyberbullying which is something that isn’t thoroughly dissected within the world. It’s not entirely sorted, since every day, someone is getting dragged online and there’s even an audience for such inhumane behaviours. As they might find humour in messages online that are of intimidating or threatening nature. Posting laughing emojis, memes and even responses under cyberbullies' posts rather than calling them out isn’t the way to go about helping the victims. Unfortunately, it makes them feel powerless and even doubts start to creep in their minds. Which will affect their self-esteem, mental health and influence their decision-making skills moving forward. The crazy thing is that tomorrow they can be on the receiving end since cyberbullies pick different victims.

Whenever someone begins to explore the internet and have access to different social media platforms and websites, they expect to get value for their time. As the end-users, they want to have an incredible experience in a way that they can share with their loved ones. However, not everything goes accordingly in this digital world. As some people get to be on the wrong end of the digital world in a way that ruins their whole experience. The internet was created to help people, but not to destroy them in any way. Unfortunately, with the rise of cyberbullying, things have gotten from bad to worse. In most cases, you’d hear people claiming just log off whenever you’re bullied online. As easy as that sounds, it’s doable, however, the damage has already been done. Which makes the whole resolution challenging at the same time, because one horrible comment on someone’s post can outshine the rest of the positive comments. The moment cyberbullies are addressed shows their mistakes and the standards has to be set. Which mean that people should be able to take good care of each other and not tear one another down. We all need each other in this world at some point, choosing peace is forever better than the highly glorified violence online.

Ideally, a person should pay no mind to negative individuals, as the moment you entertain them the more they get excited and they continue with their cyberbullying traits. It doesn’t cost a thing to be kind and respectful within your approach when you choose to engage with other people’s content. This might be seen as common sense, unfortunately nowadays it’s not and that’s just a pity. If we all do the basics right and not complicate each other’s lives then we wouldn’t even be addressing inhumane behaviours such as cyberbullying. It seems like as people instead of moving forward in terms of respecting each other’s opinions, and ideas, we just have this inner hatred of wanting to inflict pain on each other.

The aim shouldn’t be about who’s right or wrong, but the power of humanity should take over the conversations. Remember whatever you type and post online will one day come back to haunt you. Be careful of what you put out there, after all the internet doesn’t forget. Even if you delete, some people have screenshots of your posts. Cyberbullying is a massive problem in our communities and it shouldn’t be ignored. It’s your problem, which makes it our problem and the world’s problem.

Depression...

In the past couple of years, you’ve probably heard the word depression is thrown around quite often and a lot has been said about it. Unfortunately, not everyone seems to understand this group of conditions which can be severe if not treated at an early stage. In a simpler explanation, depression comprises of a person’s moods fluctuating at any given point. This becomes daunting for human beings, as they can barely make sense of their mood swings. Most people cannot only maintain a certain mood at a time. Which can be jubilant, dejected, and even vexed. Now, imagine having all these types of emotions flooding in at the same time, or even at different intervals. Hence, some people would say they’re hearing different voices on their heads telling them what to do at that moment. The brain can only take so much in a day and the moment it does more than what it is supposed to do, then that can lead to mental health disorder too.

The most common types of depression are known as:

*Clinical depression – It involves continuous melancholy moods which end up affecting your daily routine and life. Also, you become detached from certain activities whether it’s at home, work and within yourself.

*Biopolar disorder – It involves a series of mood swings that become arduous in a way that be lofty and even squad.

*Persistent depressive disorder – this is regarded as the everlasting form of depression, as it comprises low mood symptoms throughout the time.

Depression is not something that can be taken likely, even though it might be seen as a common illness within the current generation, but it’s time people get to understand depression without being judgemental. The best thing that you can do for someone with depression is to be on their side and not try too hard to be correct. Listen to what they want, then provide the best suitable solution according to what they’ve told you during their venting session or conversation. It will be easier if we’re all kind to one another, as we need each other to survive and move forward in life. We may miss a few hints about our loved ones or strangers trying to reach out to us, as they want someone to listen to them without being harsh on their unforeseen circumstances. This is a time to do better as individuals when it comes to silent killers such as depression. The moment we acknowledge that we’re all going through something personally or professionally, then we should be able to connect with another on different levels in life to find solutions.

Also, attention span differs per person, hence people are urged to take breaks in between their tough schedules. Our mental health is crucial too, therefore people should try by all means to consume healthy food, exercise and educational content that will benefit their brain too. Try by all means to protect your peace — by not dwelling on things that you can’t control. Focus on certain activities that guide you to joy and be around people that bring out the best in you.

Once you feel that you have issues with controlling your mood swings, then ideally you should consult a medical doctor, and even go to therapy. Do everything possible to cure your depression, even if it takes some time, but don’t give up on your mental health. You can reach out to people that you can trust if you want to talk and offload your challenges. At the end of the day, just know that you’re not alone.

Don’t ignore the red flags in your relationship, it’s for your benefit

Nowadays, people are hurting and even dying due to heartbreaks. Some have been able to overcome their issues, meanwhile, others have lost their battles with so-called relationships. It’s sad to hear people talk about their horrible previous experiences in relationships. Unfortunately, not many have great things to say about their exes. Hence, they’re in their past and not in the present. When you’ve had an unpleasant experience in love, that will influence your thoughts about dating and the opposite sex. Looking at it, our experiences can be our downfall; as we expect everyone we meet to be of a certain standard that we can’t even keep ourselves. Without any doubt, you’re allowed to learn from the past, but you shouldn’t live in it. 

Yes, you’ve ignored numerous red flags in your love life, but that doesn’t mean you deserve anything less. Most relationships have similar red flags, but we hope that our partners will change for us. This isn’t realistic since people change only if it’s necessary for themselves. Otherwise, they stay the same forever, hence, we shouldn’t ignore them when they tell or show us who they’re from the word go. What’s impressive is those true colours come within red flags, such as lack of communication, dishonesty, infidelity, all types of abuse (physical, financial, psychological, and sexual), insecurity, dark past, non-resolution of past relationships, disrespect, etc. There’s a lot of red flags that end up dismantling a relationship if they’re not dealt with during the dating stage, as you’re getting to know your future partner. If you’re able to put yourself first in every situation, then you will be able to remove yourself respectfully from any relationship that is messing with your peace. 

If you’re not bringing any happiness, laughter, and good vibes in a relationship, then don’t bother irritating another human being with your toxic energy. All-in-all you’re not ready to be in a loving relationship if you’re not willing to invest in happiness with your partner. Relationships have become like two-minutes noodles, very easy to get but harder to retain. This also involves getting to know a person, which means most women should learn to close their legs since the talking stage doesn’t mean much to many people. “Smash and run” is a real thing in the modern-day community, hence, people need to know what they want in a relationship. If it’s not working out then make peace with it, then move on. You can’t dwell in a relationship, whereby you’re the only one in love.

Let’s be honest, knowing your worth, and not settling for less might sound good on paper but in real life it’s challenging. As you have to let go of numerous people that want to be next to you whenever it’s beneficial. However, you will reap the rewards of your discipline, despite that the journey might feel a bit lonely. As long as you’ve got yourself, family, and friends, then there’s a great support system around you. In life, people need to know that toxic relationships are a pandemic and they all start by ignoring red flags. There’s more to life than relationships, if you can’t find love, don’t worry about it, surely, it will find you one day. Keep on working on yourself and building the life you know you deserve.