Orlando Pirates victory against the big-spending Manchester City has again shown that the standard of South African soccer is improving, writes iafrica.com's Khaya Ndubane.

So much had been said about Manchester City fielding a relatively weakened team against Pirates, but very little about Pirates who also chose to rest regular players like Teko Modise, Benson Mhlongo, Innocent Mdledle and Katlego Mashego for the first match in the Vodacom Challenge over the weekend.

Pirates coach Ruud Krol decided to rest the four players following their duties for Bafana Bafana in the Confederations Cup.

And from what I could see on Saturday, only the new signings Carlos Tevez, Roque Santa Cruz and Gareth Barry were absent from the Manchester City line-up therefore one can be forgiven for thinking that Pirates beat a strong City side - not a 'B' side as we were led to believe by the media.

Many of the players that played on Saturday played for City in the English Premiership last season so it difficult to understand why they have been labelled a 'B' team. Pirates beat Manchester City — there can be no argument there.

Credit must be given to the Pirates players who refused to be intimidated by Manchester City on the day. The 'Buccaneers' not only won the match, they dominated proceedings as well.

The truth is that the standard of South African soccer has grown and it will be foolhardy for any team or national team to come to South African and expect to walk all over their opponents.

Kaizer Chiefs have already shown the true strength of South African soccer when they fielded a 'B' side, but still managed to hold the Iranian national team to a draw.

One could argue that Iran — with the exception of being nuclear power — has not exactly been in the headlines, but Team Melli is a force to be reckoned with in Asia, yet they failed to beat a weakened Chiefs side.

Not so long ago Bafana Bafana narrowly lost to Brazil and held Spain to a 2-2 draw in the Confederations Cup. And with better luck, Bafana could have caused an upset in one or both of these games, particularly the Spain match, but it was not to be. The indication that SA soccer is on the rise, however, cannot be ignored.

The rise in strength of SA teams can only be attributed to the introduction of foreign coaches, who have not only brought flair and style to our teams, but a winning mentality as well.

So foreign teams be warned, South African soccer teams are not to be taken lightly!

  • Do you agree with Khaya? Is South African soccer on the rise? Let us know what YOU think!
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