Miguel Cardoso confirms readiness to accept Tapelo Maseko despite player's desire to leave the club

AmaZulu FC head coach, Arthur Zwane, sharply criticized his team's defensive performance after they were defeated by Sekhukhune United in the MTN8 quarter-final, which took place on Sunday at Chatsworth Stadium.

In the coach's view, the team let itself down in the dramatic match, which ended 4-3 in extra time against Sekhukhune United. Although the Usuthu team took the lead early in the match thanks to a goal from Thando Ngwenyi and controlled most of the first minutes, Zwane believes the players failed to capitalize on their dominance and allowed the opponent to come back into the game.

"I think we controlled the game for the first 25 minutes," Zwane stated. "I believe that after the goal was scored, we slowed down, although we should have put pressure on them and forced mistakes."

AmaZulu created additional chances but could not maintain the advantage before Sekhukhune equalized shortly before halftime with a shot deflected by Tshepo Mokoeane. Zwane admitted that he strongly urged the players to manage the final minutes of the first half more effectively.

"Right before halftime, I even signaled to the players that there were only three minutes left, let's finish the game, let's slow everything down," he added. "Again, we gave them too much space to play. They played outside in, we lost the ball, and they scored."

After the break, the AmaZulu coach reacted even more harshly to his team's defense when Sekhukhune scored twice in a row, increasing the lead to 3-1 before Usuthu managed to fight back.

"In the second half, I have never seen such terrible defense from my team," Zwane said. He was particularly upset about how Ellis Ramala managed to get past and score Sekhukhune's third goal.

"When there were three of our defenders on him, I told them he is left-handed, we need to force him to move right, don't let him go inside," Zwane specified. Nevertheless, AmaZulu showed significant character by recovering from the 3-1 deficit; Ngwenyi scored the second goal of the match, and then Taarik Phillips equalized.

However, Zwane felt his team should have won the match during regular time. "After we equalized, we should have scored two or three goals. Quick goals end the game."

Ultimately, the match went into extra time, where Katlego Letlapa's shot in the seventh minute concluded the tense contest, which saw seven goals scored.

For Zwane, this defeat served as a painful reminder that AmaZulu needs to be more decisive both in attack and in defense. "It's one of those things," he concluded. "We need to learn from these mistakes."

Faf de Clercq scored an incredible late goal that helped Chithis achieve a dramatic 31-26 victory over Stormers XXIII in the Currie Cup, concluding the match at Athlone Stadium on Sunday.

The Free State team maintained composure during the tense closing stages, executing over twenty phases of attack before finding a gap for De Clercq to finish. In the chaotic Currie Cup battle, marked by numerous yellow cards, Chithis had to come back from behind to deliver the final blow.

The home team, Stormers, were dissatisfied with the result. They initially scored what seemed like a winning goal thanks to free forward Vandie Mlaba, who netted the second try in the contest. However, playing with fourteen men for the last ten minutes, Chithis attacked aggressively, striving for victory to remain in contention for the top spot in the Currie Cup.

Currently, Chithis are in second place and have the same number of points as Griquas, while the defending champions hold a better points difference.

Despite the number of cards on both sides of the field, it was a spectacular encounter in front of a packed stadium. Stormers led 14-5 at halftime thanks to two tries, although the second half was not the most dynamic. They struggled in the scrums but still held enough possession early in the match.

Their momentum was broken twice, after which midfielder Stephan Ungerer scored the first try. Winger Prince Nkabinde responded for Chithis, and Stormers hooker Vernon Paulo scored shortly before halftime, restoring his team's lead. Paulo seemed to have found a way to score in the Currie Cup.

The real intensity began in the second half only in the last twenty minutes of the match. After Mlaba received a yellow card, tries from Chithis' Neels Wolschenk and the hosts Xolo Nyali provided a narrow balance before the final quarter.

Shortly after Mlaba's yellow card, the Free State team managed to close the gap by scoring another try, reducing the deficit to two points. Although Mlaba redeemed his errors by scoring the fourth try after returning from the penalty area, the last two tries secured the visitors' victory.

One of the late goals was a penalty touch after Nyali deliberately knocked down a pass, receiving a yellow card for it and forcing the Stormers to play with fourteen men for the last ten minutes. This opened up the opportunity for De Clercq to score and secure the win in Cape Town.

After the completion of another stage of the 'Grand Chess Tour' series, titled 'Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz 2026', in St. Louis, USA, Javohir Sindorov gave an interview to journalists. He spoke about the progress of preparations for the upcoming tournament and the areas he is focusing on.

According to the information, Sindorov will participate in the competition for the world chess champion title against Indian player Gukesh Dommaraju. This match will take place in Geneva, Switzerland, from November 25 to December 15 of this year.