New PSL season could be summed up this weekend

For many football fans around the country, this is a special weekend, with the start of the new Premier Soccer League (PSL) season to look forward to.
Is it no different for me – with my own penchant for the local game and the myriad sideshows that sustain my passion for it.
One such thing is the PSL coaches’ entertaining utterances. Anyone who’s ever listened to the Sundowns co-head coach Rulani Mokwena’s sophisticated English will tell you that he on his own often provides enough entertainment on match day.
His side will start the defence of its DStv Premiership title at Cape Town City tonight – ironically a match that was one of last season’s highlights, for me at least, because of what transpired both on and off the pitch.
The two sides met in the MTN8 final in Durban in October and it was before the start of extra-time that Mokwena breathed life into a contest that was frustratingly deadlocked.
Caught on camera giving the pep talk, he could be heard sharing a history lesson in trying to motivate his players.

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“Listen to me carefully, all of you. In 1976, a lot of students were shot in the back and never got the opportunity to be celebrated by the State. Hector Pieterson was shot in front and therefore he was remembered. Because when it was difficult, he never turned his back and ran away – he stayed in the fight. And if you want to be remembered as heroes, that is what we have to do! You guys understand?”
It was a compelling piece of advice and could have been what was needed for Sundowns to win in the penalty shootout.
But over and above the sideshow, the match was a contest of high quality, something nearly unrivalled in all of last season.
Cape Town City stopped Sundowns and imposed themselves in the game, which finished 1-1 after extra time.
It was a rare and refreshing sight, which probably explains why those teams finished first and second in the league.
It is their contest that I’m naturally looking forward to the most this weekend.
I also predict that should both sides play as well as they can tonight, while the other 14 teams put on an average show over the rest of the weekend, like they so often do, it will probably mean Sundowns and City will again be the two best teams in the country at the end of the season.

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