By Lucas Radebe

Some people were unhappy that the Nelson Mandela Challenge match was played in London and not somewhere in South Africa. I understand where they are coming from but the most important thing here is that Bafana Bafana got together. The more the team plays, the better. They also need to adapt to different conditions.

Some people were upset that we didn't beat Egypt. I understand how they feel but the important thing is that the players got another match under their belts. We want the results for sure, but preparation against strong opposition like Egypt is very important at this stage. Preparation and experience in tough match situations is vital.




We played well against Egypt. It shows me that the team is gelling. Sure, there are areas that require a lot of attention - up front and at the back for example - but the players are beginning to understand the requirements.

Egypt caught us cold inside three minutes
What they should have learnt from this game was that the first 15 minutes of most matches usually decides whether you're going to win or lose. Later, when the game heats up, it becomes more and more difficult to take control.

Egypt caught us cold inside three minutes and that goal was all that was needed for them to win. You could see that as the match heated up, Bafana Bafana tried in vain to catch up.

We must realise that we can't afford to start on the back foot. We can't wait for the other team to make the first move. We don't have to score an immediate goal. Sometimes you just need to defend for the first 15 minutes.

I always say you have to concentrate on three things from the first whistle:


Start on a high note,

Stick to a tight defence,

Do not concede a goal.

One of our problems is not being able to score. That's why an experienced striker like Benni McCarthy must be involved. At the moment he is the missing link. In the spine of the team, we have a strong defender in Aaron Mokoena and a talented midfielder in Siyabonga Nkosi. With Benni up front, the spine would be complete.

Let's face it, four out of five times Benni will score. With him in the team you get the blend between an established European-based player and your local players who then get a different perspective.

I promise you, a tight defence and Benni up front will make a huge difference to the blend of the team.

We talk of course about our chances in 2010 but we must not forget that we need to have a competitive team ready for 2008 in Ghana. That Cup of Nations is the stepping stone to 2010 and by that stage we must be playing the kind of football we want to be playing in the World Cup. The preparation - and it is important to remember that this applies both on and off the field - is therefore vital.

I think Pitso Mosimane and Khabo Zondo have done a great job as caretaker coaches. When the new head coach comes in next year, it is important that they are there to help him. They know the players and the players relate to them. Carlos Parreira is a great coach but he will need their help.

I am confident that we've got the players to put together a competitive team - but that talent needs to be properly nurtured and managed.

Hope you had a good one!

:bday3:

Ons blaai die ander dag in ‘n winkeltjie in Jeffreysbaai deur die prag fotoboek, Chack Chic van Craig Fraser… Die eenvoud van die huisies en sy mense en die kreatiwiteit van ‘n fotograaf saamgevat in ‘n pragboek. Nou, hier in Europa, vind ek ‘n artikel oor die volgende een, Mud Chic … Absolute moet-hê-boeke oor ons land! Vir ‘n oomblik wonder ek waarheen die geld gegaan het – na die fotograaf of die inwoners wat die storie is…

Rooikop, Duitse Suzanne van my taalklas, se hartsbegeerte is om Suid-Afrika te besoek – veral ‘Kaapstadt und Stellenbosch’. Maar, vra sy, is dit so, dat die verskil tussen ryk en slums so opsigtelik en bymekaar is? Want, sê sy, dit wil sy nie sien nie want sy kan dit nie hanteer nie – dis onaanvaarbaar.

Manlief kyk nou een aand ‘n program op T.V. oor Afrika en verlang dan intens na sy land en sy mense,
en ek wonder waar staan ék …

Saam met die kunstenaar met ‘n kamera in die hand om die kuns in armoede vas te lê vir die wêreld om te bewonder en pryse uit te loof vir die foto van die jaar?
Spog oor die mooi en kontras van ons land wanneer vriende kom koffie drink? Die koper sonsondergange, die vryheid van koedoe en kameelperd in die doringbosse van Limpopo, majestieeuse Tafelberg met die blouselblou see van Bloubergstrand wat rustig en skuimend uitrol op die strand, die heksberg wat waghou oor die wingerde van die Heksriviervallei?
Staan my en verwonder oor die stem van Afrika wat ritmies sing sonder blik of snaar en die aardse kreatiwiteit van draad en krale om ‘n bestaan te maak.

Óf roer die berg vol witkruise verteenwoordigend van elke plaasmoord my?
Voel ek die onseker, bangbravade van toegesluite mense in my eie hart roer wanneer ons ons kans afwag in die ry vir besoekers by Pollsmoor gevangenis om ‘n vriend te besoek?
Kry ek ‘n naarword op die krop van my maag wanneer ek hoor van ‘n vriendin se dogter wat verkrag is oppad terug vanaf ‘n fliek.
Proe ek die wrang smaak van onregverdigheid wanneer vriende voedsel vir hul ouers in Zimbabwe moet neem terwyl die hoof van die land en sy vrou kan koop wat hulle wil.
Sien ek my kinders in die boepenskindertjies met dorstige oogvlieë wat soos moesies hang en maer geraamtes van kinders wat slap hang in lappe omdat daar nie kos is nie.
Ruik ek die nat van hare gemeng met bloed van ‘n skietwond of ‘n bylkap in ongevalle.

Na watter Afrika verlang ék?
Is ek bereid om my verfynde “brother and sister from Africa” hier in Europa te verruil vir die soms sukkelende, vuil, gevaarlike, arm, “brother and sister from Africa” en saam te gaan inskuif en oorleef in die chack sonder die chic en hoop in die ou bord te skep en te drink uit die beker van Lewe.
Is ek bereid om àlles te verloor, van dag tot dag te lewe en te gee wat ek nie het nie.

Néé, want ek het nog soveel om te verloor!

How many folks out there are looking forward to the rugby match this afternoon, or are we too deflated over our teams recent performance ( both sides ) to give a damn?

:cheer:

Harare - Zimbabwe on Thursday invited more than 1 000 white farmers to collect compensation for property seized during controversial lands reforms launched by President Robert Mugabe's government.

In a four-page notice published in the state-run newspaper The Herald, secretary of lands Ngoni Masoka said dispossessed farmers should contact the ministry urgently.

"The schedule below summarises details of farms whose compensation has been fixed in terms of Section 29 B of the Land Acquisition Act," Masoka said in a statement.

"The former owners or representatives should contact the Ministry of Lands, Land Reform and Resettlement as a matter of urgency in connection with their compensation."

Zimbabwe launched its controversial and often violent land reforms seven years ago, seizing at least 4 000 properties formerly run by white farmers and pledging to redistribute them to landless blacks.

Mugabe said the measure was aimed at rectifying historical wrongs and imbalances favouring British colonial settlers and other white farmers.

He turned a blind eye when bands of veterans of the country's 1970s liberation war led the farm seizures, often occupying them after violent attacks.

The move led to a slide in agricultural production, once the bedrock of the Zimbabwean economy, which is now labouring under four-digit inflation and previously unheard of food shortages.

At least 500 white farmers still remain in Zimbabwe while many others have emigrated to other countries in Africa such as Zambia, Mozambique and Nigeria. - Sapa-AFP

By Eliane Engeler and Alexander G Higgins

A global competition to name the new seven wonders of the world is attracting widespread interest.

Organisers say more than 20-million have voted so far.

The Egyptian pyramids are the only surviving structures from the original list of seven architectural marvels.

Long gone are the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes and the Pharos lighthouse off Alexandria.

Those seven were deemed wonders in ancient times by observers of the Mediterranean and Middle East.

Candidates for the new list have been narrowed down to 21, including the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty, Taj Mahal and Peru's Machu Picchu.

The public can vote until July 6 2007, by Internet or telephone. The seven winners will be announced on July 7 in Lisbon, Portugal.

Choosing world wonders has been a continuing fascination over the centuries.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) keeps updating its list of World Heritage Sites, which now totals 830 places.

The "New 7 Wonders of the World" campaign was begun in 1999 by Swiss adventurer Bernard Weber, with almost 200 nominations coming in from around the world.

Weber "felt it is time for something new to bring the world together" and to "symbolise a common pride in the global cultural heritage," said Tia B Viering, spokesperson for the campaign.

Weber's Switzerland-based foundation aims to promote cultural diversity by supporting, preserving and restoring monuments.

It relies on private donations and revenue from selling broadcasting rights.

Interest has grown as Weber and his 10-member team visit the 21 sites. Their final visit will be March 6 to New York's Statue of Liberty.

In addition to the Statue of Liberty, Pyramids, Eiffel Tower, Taj Mahal and Machu Picchu, the finalists are the Acropolis; Turkey's Haghia Sophia; the Kremlin and St Basil's Cathedral; the Colosseum; Germany's Neuschwanstein Castle; Stonehenge; Spain's Alhambra; the Great Wall of China; Japan's Kiyomizu Temple; the Sydney Opera House, Cambodia's Angkor; Timbuktu; Petra, Jordan; Brazil's Statue of Christ Redeemer; Easter Island; and Chichen Itza, Mexico.

To vote, go to New7wonders or call +372-541-11738, +372-705 00-22 or +423-663-900299 (international phone rates apply). - Sapa-AP

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The Dutch government agreed on Friday a total ban on the wearing of burqas and other Muslim face veils in public, justifying the move on security grounds.

Immigration Minister Rita Verdonk will now draw up legislation which will result in the Netherlands, once one of Europe's most easy-going nations, imposing some of the continent's toughest laws against concealing the face.


"The cabinet finds it undesirable that garments covering the face -- including the burqa -- should be worn in public in view of public order, (and) the security and protection of fellow citizens," the Dutch Justice Ministry said in a statement.
The debate on face veils and whether they stymie Muslim integration has gathered momentum across Europe.

The Netherlands would be the first European state to impose a countrywide ban on Islamic face coverings, though other countries have already outlawed them in specific places.

The move by the centre-right government comes just five days before a general election. The campaign has focused so far on issues like the economy rather than immigration because most mainstream parties have hardened their stances in recent years.

Last December Dutch lawmakers voted in favour of a proposal by far-right politician Geert Wilders to outlaw face-coverings and asked Verdonk to examine the feasibility of such a ban.

Because veils were worn for religious reasons, she had feared new legislation could come into conflict with religious freedom laws. But she said on Friday this was not the case.

MUSLIM HEADSCARF

Existing legislation already limits the wearing of burqas and other total coverings on public transport or in schools.

France has banned the Muslim headscarf and other religious garb from state schools while discussion in Britain centres on limiting the full facial veil, or niqab.

Italy has a decades-old law against covering the face in public as an anti-terrorism measure. Some politicians have called for this rule to be enforced against veiled Muslim women.

The Muslim community estimates that only about 50 women in the Netherlands wear the head-to-toe burqa or the niqab, a face veil that conceals everything but the eyes.

Dutch Muslim groups have complained a burqa ban would make the country's 1 million Muslims feel more victimised and alienated, regardless of whether they approve of burqas or not.

"This will just lead to more girls saying 'hey I'm also going to wear a burqa as a protest'," Naima Azough, a member of parliament from the opposition Green Left, told an election campaign meeting for fellow members of the Moroccan community.

Job Cohen, the Labour mayor of Amsterdam, said he opposed burqas in schools and public buildings, and said women wearing one who failed to get a job should not expect welfare benefits.

"From the perspective of integration and communication, it is obviously very bad because you can't see each other so the fewer the better," he told foreign journalists.

"But actually hardly anybody wears one ... The fuss is much bigger than the number of people concerned."

Since the murder of anti-immigration maverick Pim Fortuyn in 2002, the Dutch have lost a reputation for tolerance, pushing through some of Europe's toughest entry and integration laws.

Social and religious tensions have escalated in the last few years, exacerbated by the murder of film director and Islam critic Theo van Gogh by a Dutch-Moroccan militant in 2004.

(Additional reporting by Emma Thomasson)

Artery: The study of paintings.

Bacteria: Back door of the cafeteria

Barium: What you do with dead patients

Caesarean Section: A suburb in Rome

Cat scan: A search for kitty

D&C: Where Washington is

Dilate: To live longer

Enema: Not your friend

Genital: Not a Jew

Impotent: Distnguished and well known

Medical staff: Doctor's walking stick

Morbid: Higher offer

Nitrates: Cheaper than day rates

Outpatient: A person who has fainted

Pelvis: A friend of Elvis

Post-operative: A letter courier

Seizure: A Roman emperor

Terminal illness: Falling ill at the airport

Tumour: Another couple

Urine: The opposite of "you're out"

:am:

Good morning everyone....

It was a good week, but a very, very busy week. :dazed: It is not over yet, but I can smell the end of it at least!

Enjoy your day and have a good weekend!

:jive:

Congratulations and enjoy your day!


:jive: :cheer: :jive: