The Blood and Gold as Esperance are popularly known will be attempting to defend their title tonight when they meet Wydad Casablanca in the first leg of the CFACL final at the Complexe Sportif Moulay-Abdellah stadium in Rabat. Mamelodi Sundowns lost to the Moroccans in the semi-finals and head coach Pitso Mosimane expects a tight game at midnight.

Assistant Royal Eagles coach Bafana Nhlapo is targeting twin wins from their remaining Premier Soccer League Promotion/Relegation Play-Off matches, starting with the game at Tshakhuma Tsha Madzivhandila (TTM) tomorrow (Saturday).

Sharks coach Robert du Preez has made four changes to his starting line-up to face the Lions in Durban tomorrow, as the KwaZulu-Natal side aim for the double over their Gauteng rivals.

The FIFA U20 World Cup kicks-off tonight and Amajita are only two days away from opening their campaign against Argentina at Stadion Miedjski in Tychy, Poland on Saturday evening.

The Maximal Training Approach is alive and working. This was the reaction of the students of the late former Bafana Bafana coach Ted Dumitru when Daniel “Dance” Malesela led National First Division side TS Galaxy to a historic Nedbank Cup title victory last weekend. Galaxy shocked South African cup kings Kaizer Chiefs beating them 1-0 at Moses Mabhida stadium in Durban on Saturday. It was for the first time a lower division team had lifted this trophy and the first trophy for Malesela as a coach at the elite level. AmaTuks head coach Zipho Dlangalala is another student and product of Dumitru’s philosophy and celebrates Malesela’s achievement in this interview with SABC Sport’s Velile Mnyandu.

It looks like Chippa United bosses have learnt a lesson from what happened to the team this past season as the club’s Chief Operations Officer Lukanyo Mzinzi reveals that they have already started planning for the 2019/2020 season by tying down most of the players, who helped them survive relegation at the end of the past term.

As the South African Women’s National team jets off to France for their maiden FIFA World Cup appearance tonight (Thursday, 23 May 2019), their sponsor Sasol hosted a send-off celebration for them in Sandton this afternoon. SAFA president Danny Jordaan revealed at the event that the Banyana players will each pocket R320‚000 if they reach the last 16 stage, R520‚000 for reaching the quarter-finals‚ R670‚000 for a semi-finals spot and R920‚000 for winning the global showpiece. Banyana captain Janine van Wyk says they will certainly be buoyed by such financial muscle. Banyana coach Desiree Ellis believes this is a life-changing moment for women football. Vice-captain and one of the more experienced players in the side, Refiloe Jane says it is hard to believe the moment is finally here.

Former Bafana Bafana striker Jerry Sikhosana believes the COSAFA Cup that gets underway in Durban this weekend provides the perfect preparation for those teams that will be playing in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) next month. The May 25 to June 8 competition will feature four teams that have qualified for the continental spectacle to be played in Egypt. Those teams are Bafana Bafana, Zimbabwe and Uganda, who will join at the quarter-final stage, as well as Namibia – the Brave Warriors involved from the outset. Sikhosana hopes they all use the competition wisely.

The Stormers have made just one enforced change to their starting line-up as they prepare to take on the Highlanders in a Super Rugby game at Newlands on Saturday afternoon. Coach Robbie Fleck says at this stage of the competition it is nice to be able to have a consistency in selection and reward the players who did so well to draw 19 all against the Crusaders. Stormers Captain Siya Kolisi says they need to just focus on winning every game now, and cannot prioritise any game over another.

Former Kaizer Chiefs coach Steve Komphela has launched a stinging attack on ex-Free State Stars coach Luc Eymael, saying he is arrogant and insolent, adding that his lack of respect could also be one of the reasons why Ea Lla Koto were relegated from the Absa Premiership. This comes after Eymael said he had left Ea Lla Koto in a better position and is not to blame for the ‘mess’ that the club is in.