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Mabasa breaks silence on ‘confusing period’ at Orlando Pirates
Former Orlando Pirates striker Tshegofatso Mabasa finally opened up about being sidelined at the Soweto giants last season.
Despite being the club’s top goalscorer, Mabasa found himself struggling for game time last season and was loaned out to Stellenbosch FC in January. He scored four goals in 12 appearances for Stellies.
Upon his return to Stellies, Mabasa was let go by Pirates and has since joined Moroccan giants MAS Fès.
Reports at the time of his move to Stellies suggested that Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou was not happy with not happy with the striker’s work rate.
Even though he didn’t mention Mabasa by name, Ouaddou hinted that he was indeed not happy with the striker’s work rate.
“Some people believe that strikers are not just here to score; that type of football is over. The new, modern football demands efficiency with the ball. You must be mobile and play with or without the ball. fish-roadgame.com
“When pressing, we must recover the ball together. And somebody who cannot do this, who maybe is lazy, cannot play at a high football level, cannot fit into my team,” Ouaddou told the media.
‘I did my part’
Mabasa feels he was delivering for Pirates and adds that Ouaddou’s decision to bench him left him confused.
“It was a very confusing period for me, I won’t lie… For me, I felt I was still delivering, regardless of whatever is happening off the ball, I was delivering,” Mabasa told iDiski Times.
“Even in the actions where it’s off the ball, it’s not like I wasn’t pressing, it was the same I could say for maybe two seasons back, when coach Jose was there, we also had to press at the time and I was pressing.
“So why now is it a different story? Hence why I saw it was a very confusing period for me, but I had to remain strong, confident in my abilities and continue to show up whether it’s in training or in friendlies, which I believe I did, I did my part.
“It’s just unfortunate my opportunity never came again in the season,” concluded Mabasa.
Arsenal – Betis Séville : Sur quelles chaînes TV suivre le match en direct ?
Arsenal poursuit sa préparation estivale avec une affiche de prestige face au Betis Séville, ce mercredi à Dublin. Les Gunners abordent ce rendez-vous avec l’objectif de continuer à monter en puissance avant leurs premières échéances officielles de la saison.
Les hommes de Mikel Arteta restent sur une victoire convaincante face à Gérone (4-1), une prestation encourageante qui a confirmé les bonnes dispositions du groupe. Cette rencontre contre le Betis permettra au technicien espagnol de poursuivre ses derniers réglages et d’offrir du temps de jeu à l’ensemble de son effectif.
Le Betis Séville, de son côté, profite également de cette préparation pour peaufiner ses automatismes avant la reprise de la Liga. Face à Arsenal, les Andalous auront l’occasion de se mesurer à un adversaire de très haut niveau dans un match qui s’annonce disputé.
Le coup d’envoi de la rencontre sera donné à 18h30 GMT (19h30 en France). Le match sera diffusé en direct sur DAZN Deutschland.
The post Arsenal – Betis Séville : Sur quelles chaînes TV suivre le match en direct ? appeared first on AfricaFootUnited.
Beauden Barrett to guide All Blacks in tour opener against Stormers
The All Blacks will be guided by a 144-Test cap veteran in flyhalf Beauden Barrett when they kick off Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry (RGR) tour in their opening match against the Stormers at the Cape Town Stadium on Friday night (kick-off 7:10pm).
Coach Dave Rennie named a mixed team featuring a few veterans, with Barrett backed up by 90-cap outside centre Anton Lienert-Brown, 88-cap left wing Rieko Ioane and 57-cap lock Patrick Tuipulotu, who will also captain the side in the match.
A number of exciting up and coming players are also in the mix, including prop Siale Lauaki and utility back Josh Jacomb who will both be making their debuts for the All Blacks.
It is the first of four matches that the All Blacks will be playing against the South African franchises, with the Sharks in Durban and Bulls in Pretoria to follow next week Tuesday and Saturday, before the first Test against the Springboks at Ellis Park on the 22nd of August.
The visitors will then play the Lions on the 25th, before three more games against the Boks, in Cape Town, back in Johannesburg and then in the US to finish off the just major tour between the two massive rivals in three decades.
Dave Rennie
All Blacks coach Rennie, who is in his first season with the team, congratulated the debutants while praising the Stormers.
“Firstly, I want to congratulate the new All Blacks Siale and Josh. It will be a very exciting and proud day for them and their families,” said Rennie.
“We’ve had a great welcome in Cape Town and we’re excited to get this Tour underway. We are really pleased with how our leaders, including match day captain Patrick and tour captain Codie, have prepared the group. We can’t wait for Friday.
“We’re well aware of how good this Stormers side is. They made the semifinals of the United Rugby Championship this year and they are a big, physical side with a mix of talented youngsters and Springboks, so we are preparing for a real war of attrition.”
All Blacks starting XV
Josh Moorby, Leroy Carter, Billy Proctor, Anton Lienert-Brown, Rieko Ioane, Beauden Barrett, Cortez Ratima, Wallace Sititi, Simon Parker, Patrick Tuipulotu (c), Fabian Holland, Pasilio Tosi, Samisoni Taukei’aho, George Bower
Bench: Asafo Aumua, Ollie Norris, Siale Lauaki, Sam Darry, Ethan Blackadder, Kyle Preston, Josh Jacomb, Caleb Clarke
Rennie: Stormers will want our scalps
Head coach Dave Rennie says the All Blacks on Friday can expect a fired-up Stormers side packed with quality players out to prove a point to Springbok boss Rassie Erasmus.
Speaking on Thursday ahead of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry opener at Cape Town Stadium, Rennie acknowledged the extra motivation on offer for those in the Stormers camp with Bok aspirations.
“Absolutely,” Rennie said. “Rassie has shown that he’s prepared to take a punt on good young players coming through, and he’s used an enormous amount of players already this year.”
ALSO: All Blacks sweat on injured skipper
Director of rugby John Dobson has named 11 URC champions in the Stormers match 23, including Evan Roos and Ntuthuko Mchunu, both released by Erasmus for the fixture.
“I would imagine that everyone is excited to perform well and apply pressure or get their name in the hat,” Rennie added. “I’m sure it’s a motivating factor for them.”
He was quick to dismiss any notion that the four club matches on tour are a warm-up before the four-Test series kicks off.
“There’s no shortage of talent and depth in this country. The old days of playing a French Barbarians or a South African XV to soften you up heading into a series have changed.
TEAM: Barrett back for All Blacks’ tour opener
“We’re well aware of the quality of the side that we’ll play, and we’ll give them that respect,” the Kiwi said. “We’ve had a decent look at all three sides and because of a short turnaround in games, we’ve looked for common ground… areas that we expect the Stormers, Sharks and Bulls to try and stress us.
“We know the Stormers will kick a lot and apply pressure through that. They’ve got absolute lightning wheels all over the park, so we’re going to have to deal with that.
“But it does create opportunities for us; the ball will be kicked to us and if we can deal with that, then we’ll get some opportunities. Hopefully the weather plays its part.”
ICYMI: Rassie unloads on media
Rennie, who kick-started his tenure with three successive wins in the Nations Championship, outlined what he wants from his side on Friday.
“We’ve had a little bit more time together and that’s been good, but there’s some new combinations,” he said.
“We’re going to play against a side that is very competitive in the URC, and who will be excited about the potential of an international scalp, so that makes them dangerous.
“We’ve got a Test match only around the corner and we know we’ll need to be better against the Springboks than we were in the previous three Tests.”
Photo: @THESTORMERS/X
The post Rennie: Stormers will want our scalps appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.