2007 went from sublime to ridiculous

It's been a year of mixed emotions in South African football.

Preparations to, as President Thabo Mbeki put it, "host the best-ever" World Cup in 2010 gained momentum, an array of talented youngsters emerged from the lower regions to light up the Premiership, unfashionable teams made their mark against the odds and we were treated to intriguing boardroom battles over who gets paid commissions from mega-million sponsorship deals.

On the 2010 front, complacency was not allowed to creep in as the doomsayers were in great form, always vigilant and poised to spread the negatives, mostly relating to the country's run-down public transport system and safety and security structures.

While promises of a vastly improved transport infrastructure will likely be met, the same cannot be said about the solving of crime which has been spiralling out of control.

However, the preliminary draw held in Durban last month did in some ways prove the effectiveness of mass policing centred on the zone of World Cup activity.

However, that was not enough to set the minds of locals at ease, for they quite rightly expect to be left with a legacy of safety and security beyond the hosting of the world's biggest sporting event.

Thumbs up, though, for the overall planning and organisation of the draw, which went off without the traditional "African" timelines.

The Soccerex international expo held in Johannesburg followed the draw, and again one could only praise the manner in which it was presented.

Just about the entire football world was there under one roof, showcasing what it had to offer the beautiful game ahead of the 2010 showpiece.

Fifa's team of inspectors played their part in announcing their satisfaction with the progress of construction of the various match venues, with special emphasis on the Green Point stadium and Durban's Moses Mabhida stadium that had seen serious strike action courtesy of niggling labour disputes.

Sanity prevailed, though, and authorities in both cities say they are on track to deliver the brand-new state-of-the-art venues by the end of 2009.

Staying on an international note, local fans were treated to teaser tours by Spanish giants Barcelona and English Premiership club Tottenham Hotspur.

Despite excellent showings by local opposition, both teams proved that there was still quite a gap in standards between South Africa and Europe.

On the domestic front, the barometer varied between the sublime and the ridiculous, with many fixtures causing football writers to rest their weary heads on the desktops in the media rooms.

Teams need reminding that goals win games, in the process taking fans to the edge of their seats. That, sadly, has been in short supply. Last season's meagre winning total of 15 goals sums up the scoring woes in the top flight.

That former Cosmos striker Chris Katongo's tally from only a couple of outings - before he jetted off abroad to pursue a more lucrative career - still proved enough to pick up the winner's purse in June was a slap in the face of goal getters in the domestic game.

The toothless trend continued into the new campaign, and it's only been in the latter part of this year that certain clubs got their act together in front of goal.

Moroka Swallows striker James Chamanga, for example, contributed five goals in a 6-2 win over Platinum Stars and helped himself to a brace and one strike in subsequent outings to lead the race with 10 goals to date.

Gordon Igesund was fired by Ajax Cape Town and after a couple of months on the dole, duly coached Mamelodi Sundowns to the league championship. He took over from the duo of Neil Tovey and Miguel Gamondi, who themselves had delivered the coveted league trophy to success-hungry mining magnate club boss Patrice Motsepe the previous season.

Yet Igesund can count himself lucky to have survived the year in the hot seat.

The Sundowns mentor did not cover himself in glory during a dismal African Champions League campaign. His club lost to Kaizer Chiefs in the Telkom Cup final after earlier having won the Super Eight trophy, but that success was not enough to keep the heat off the four-times championship-winning mentor as his charges have floundered in mediocrity during the current league programme.

Against all expectations it is Ajax and Wits University, and not any of the big three of Chiefs, Sundowns and Orlando Pirates, that ended the year in the top slots, with the youthful Cape outfit shading Wits on goal difference.

These clubs are a perfect study in contrasting playing styles. While Ajax went after the spoils with pace and youthful exuberance, Wits weave more laborious patterns based on defensive caution.

Under Roger da Sa, who had left Santos after two barren seasons, Wits were expected to again compete for the dubious honour of draw specialists.

This time around, though, Da Sa had his players turning goalless draws into 1-0 wins. That's been the catalyst for the unfashionable club's rise from the ashes.

Former striker Jean Marc Ithier took over from Da Sa with mixed fortunes to start with, but he can point to a creditable recovery in recent weeks.

Ajax, meanwhile, have surprised all and sundry by maintaining their momentum despite having lost highly respected coach Muhsin Ertugral to Chiefs in July after he had led them to a top-eight finish, a defeat in the Telkom Cup final and success in the Absa Cup.

Ertugral bagged the Telkom Cup with Chiefs, but he won't be happy with the Amakhosi having ended the first round of the current season as the new draw kings with nine from just 15 outings.

New kid on the block Craig Rosslee has defied the odds to guide Ajax to the summit and in good shape to challenge strongly for the ultimate prize when the action resumes in mid-February after the African Nations Cup finals.

However, talisman striker Terror Fanteni will no longer lead their attack due to having secured a lucrative four-year deal with top Israel club Maccabi Haifa.

All eyes will be on the 23-year-old marksman as he leads the Bafana Bafana strike force alongside the wily Sibusiso Zuma in next month's Nations Cup in Ghana.

And speaking of Bafana, the team have continued their struggle existence despite the signing of Brazilian World Cup-winning coach Carlos Alberto Parreira for around R3-million a month before tax, which translates into a bankable salary of a cool R1,8-million.

The beleaguered national team was supposedly in the hands of a "messiah". A hopeful nation no doubt expected the opposite of what then transpired, with Bafana sneaking into the Nations Cup through a distant back door despite a 3-1 hammering by Zambia at Newlands.

The team currently languish around the 79 mark after having been at 83 in the world just before they lifted the Cosafa Cup, a nothing trophy reserved for the minnows of the Southern Africa region.

To his credit, Parreira has shown vision to select a youthful squad for Ghana, with the most glaring omission that of star striker Benni McCarthy. The Blackburn Rovers player had earlier in the year returned from his umpteenth self-imposed exile to proclaim that he would only play for the Brazilian and not for Safa, with whom he had some serious run-ins over the years.

Parreira's response was to announce McCarthy as "too valuable" not to have in the Bafana team.

Sadly for the coach, not many eligible strikers put their hands up to take over the scoring mantle from McCarthy, who stands alongside Shaun Bartlett as the country's all-time top scorer.

Players who did rise to prominence this year are Bryce Moon and Fanteni (Ajax), Teko Modise and Excellent Walaza (Pirates) and Itumeleng Khune (Chiefs),

Modise scored five goals to help Bafana lift the Cosafa Cup and generally looked like someone who could in the long run solve the playmaking problem for the coach. Moon booked his ticket to Ghana with some scintillating showings for his club and solid outings whenever he got to don the national team shirt.

Khune emerged as the best young goalkeeping talent and the reason behind many fruitful assignments for Chiefs. Walaza and Fanteni proved they are the best prospects for the Bafana 2010 squad.

At age-group level, South Africa suffered more of a crisis as national teams embarrassingly bombed out of one international event after the other. The worst had to be the faling of the under-23 side to make the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games.

Disappointingly, Amagulu-glug coach Steve Khompela did not turn out to be the messiah his employers had hoped for. The highly intellectual Khompela always talks a good game, but in reality the former Bafana captain fell way short of the mark during the woeful qualifying campaign.

Parreira would have been disappointed as he had hoped to maximise the developmental aspect of the Olympic dream ahead of building the 2010 dream team.

The under-20s and under-17s fared no better, and the scenario could not have been worse given the dire need for the Bafana coach to draw future stars from the age-group teams.

On a sombre note, South African football lost one of its most popular personalities in Peter Martin, who will be remembered for his frankness in dealing with football-related matters. Martin achieved a unique full house in football having starred as a player, coach, manager, referee and administrator.

Football also mourns the tragic loss in car crashes of two star players in Gift Leremi, who at the time had just resurrected his career with Sundowns, and Black Leopards captain Fernando Matola. Matola's wife and two children died with him.

The football journey of Bafana masseur Joe Ramokgadi, one of the game's gentle giants, also came to an end. The much-revered "Bra Joe" died of a heart attack.

More bad news for the local game has been the controversy around the new sponsorship deal that elevated South Africa football to dizzy heights. While a select few initially stood to gain from commissions emanating from the multi-million rand deals involving M-Net SuperSport, Absa and Nedbank, the rules were changed so that payouts would now include Premier Soccer League clubs.

Cosmos owner and coach Jomo Sono heads a committee set up to find "the best means" of distribution, but comically, with Sono's report now in print, the relevant parties appear unable to find the time to meet, with accusations of sabotage rife in football circles.

Norwegian-born Kjetil Siem replaced Trevor Philips as chief executive of the PSL, but not without an outcry over the choice of yet another foreigner to a top position in local football. Phillips has moved on to 2010 business, but along with his right-hand man, Peter Mancer, is set to fight a fierce battle for their share of the commission payout. Watch this space.

THE SUBLIME IN 2007

- Ajax Cape Town's achievements under Muhsin Ertugral and now under new coach Craig Rosslee.

- Excellent Walaza and Terror Fanteni's entertaining forward play.

- Bryce Moon and Chiefs' Simphiwe Shabalala bringing back exciting wing play.

- Newly promoted Free State Stars flexing their muscles in the top flight.

- Twenty-year-old Itumeleng Khune showing up the more experienced goalkeepers in the basics of the position.

- Chiefs and Pirates producing a super show in a 2-2 draw as part of the Fifa preliminary draw in Durban.

- The slick organisation of the Fifa draw and the Soccerex Expo.

THE RIDICULOUS IN 2007

- Free State Stars defender James Matola breaking Sundowns left wing Dillon Sheppard's leg with a crunching tackle.

- The fighting over commissions by officials elected to serve the game in the first place.

- Clubs that still chase after foreign coaches despite the strong emergence of local coaches.

- Ajax struggling without a major financial backer despite their success on the pitch and superb development and social responsibility structures.

- The overall standard of refereeing that has cost certain teams dearly in the league and cup competitions.

- The meagre salaries some Premiership players earn in the absence of a minimum wage structure.

- The plethora of goals missed through sheer bad technique.