Brazilians shoot to top of the charts
Mamelodi Sundowns were very slow in getting out of the starting blocks when voting opened to select the four teams that will contest the annual Telkom Charity Cup at the Soccer City Stadium on August 7, but shortly before midnight, they had ascended to the summit.
Patrice Motsepe’s team started third, behind both Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates, as soon as details were announced about the 2010 event aimed at collecting much-needed funds to disburse to needy and charitable organisations, but as the clock ticked towards midnight, were a nose ahead of Kaizer Chiefs with 709 votes.
They were followed in a close second by Chiefs with 695 votes, while Pirates were third with 453 votes. Then followed a gap as the fourth team –- Bloemfontein Celtic -– had garnered 73 votes.
Once the pride of Soweto, with their die-hard followers fondly referring to them as either the “Beautiful Birds” or the “Killer Birds”, with delightful slogans like "don’t follow me, follow the birds”, the maroon and white clad Moroka Swallows trailed at a dismal fifth with only 23 votes.
Granted they finished last season with swagger and raised hopes they could recapture their glory days when Aubrey “great” Makgopela, Joel “Ace” Mnini, Daniel “Vader” Mophosho, Fred “Congo” Malebane and Tornado Ntsibande held sway, but their supporters need to do much better than the opening day if they hope to see the Dube side featuring in the one-day tournament.
Platinum Stars closed the day with 10 votes, one more than tradition-steeped KwaZulu-Natal side AmaZulu, who had nine votes in their kitty, while Ajax Cape Town had only managed to secure six votes and nobody bothered to cast their votes for both Free State Stars and Bidvest Wits.