Neither of them sound like great games...
They came they saw and they did nothing Staff Reporter 11 Aug 1995 00:00 SOCCER: Andy Capostagno If it’s August, can the English soccer season be far behind? Sad, but true, alas. And if you don’t think it’s sad you obviously didn’t see Leeds United’s two contributions to the United Bank Challenge. At Loftus Versfeld, Mamelodi Sundowns outplayed the Yorkshire Monoliths, but only won 1-0 thanks to some typically English defending which stopped just a little way short of open brutality. At Ellis Park three days later, a Leeds side with four changes reinvented itself to the extent that it managed all of three shots on target in 90 minutes of goalless action, if action is the right word, with Benfica. It was a match for which the word cynical might have been invented. Two sides who had each been paid R1,5 million just to turn up, wandered around Ellis Park like models on the catwalk, afraid to break into a sweat in case it stained their designer shirts. Leeds’ most fluent movement began in the Benfica 18 yard box and a few perfect passes later ended in the hands of their own goalkeeper. English football, reversing into the future. “We were afraid of the altitude”, said Leeds captain Gary McAllister. “We were all breathless after Thursday’s game so we had to slow it down today”. “The uneven pitch made ball control very difficult”, said Leeds manager Howard Wilkinson “But one has to expect that on a rugby pitch”. Leeds, of course, know nothing of such conditions, as Elland Road only hosts rugby-league matches and it is well known that the divots made by the union game are far worse than those in league. Fortunately the sponsors’ blushes were saved by a vibrant main match between Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs. Kenny Niemach, the goal scorer against Leeds, got two this time as Sundowns ran their oppo- ents ragged with the kind of constant movement that the English game is supposed to be famous for. Thankfully there was a generous helping of skill, something that the English game is not famous for. United Bank have tried and failed for three years to get foreign clubs to reproduce their best form within South Africa and now must be the time to say enough is enough. Leeds were in the country for less than five days, saw nothing of it, contributed nothing to either their matches or the development programme and left weighted down with money. Sundowns earned a tenth as much as Leeds for winning the competition. The isolation years are over and it is no longer necessary to anaesthetise the conscience of visitors with large injections of cash. Foreign clubs should be paying their own money to come and enjoy the kind of facilities, weather and support that provide perfect pre-season warm-ups. It is time, too, to put away our blinkered regard for English football. For about six years after England won the World Cup in 1966 the English first division could consider itself a world leader. Since then it has produced a handful of truly talented players, most of whom were forced to go abroad to have their abilities appreciated. Every team in the NSL has at least one player worth the entrance money to watch. We should be concentrating on developing those players, not spending precious funds to bring over pin-headed bores like Leeds United. -----Original Message----- From: Leedslist <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Dawn Weyers Sent: 26 November 2019 15:07 To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [LU] Old ore season tour in 92ish Had to come out of lurk mode for this. I was at the game at Ellis Park. The football was s*1t - the only thing I can clearly remember was our bloke huffing and puffing up and down the wing. I think it was Worthington but I'm not going to lose sleep if I'm wrong. The best part of that evening was going to an all you can eat rib joint (don't pardon the pun) with a couple we'd met from Zimbabwe after the match. We decided we'd have our own international event and see who could eat the most ribs. England vs Zimbabwe - should have been a walk over but sadly we had to call it a draw - it was late and the restaurant owners wanted to close up and go home.so they kicked us out. Still have a Leeds flag from that night gathering dust and moth holes somewhere in the house. Memories..... Dawn possibly the only botl still on the list ?? On Tue, 26 Nov 2019 at 15:58, Joe Skinner <[email protected]> wrote: > Looks like the only time we played in Africa was this weird tournament > - maybe it was a scratch game? > > United Bank Challenge: Semi-Final > 27-07-1995 > Mamelodi Sundowns (n) > 0-1 (L) > Team > 45,000 > Neimach (89') > > > Half-Time 0-0. Played at Loftus Versfelt Stadium, Pretoria, South Africa. > United Bank Challenge: 3rd Place Play-off > 30-07-1995 > Benfica (n) > 0-0 (L) (Leeds lost 5-6 on penalties) > > Team > Half-Time 0-0. Played at Ellis Park, Johannesburg, South Africa. > > > http://www.ozwhitelufc.net.au/leeds_friendlies/leeds_united_tournament > _details/leeds_united_tournament_details.php > > http://www.ozwhitelufc.net.au/leeds_friendlies/index.php > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Leedslist <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Robert > Heath > Sent: 26 November 2019 13:38 > To: Matt Anderson <[email protected]> > Cc: Leeds List <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [LU] Old ore season tour in 92ish > > Not helpful at all, but for what' it's worth I bet I'm the only lister > who was in the crowd when Leeds played Morocco in Casablanca in about > 1981. It was in the era when our team was packed with shit players > whose name began with H.........Hird, Hamson, Hart etc. Dreadful > game...........ended 0-0. > > On Tue, Nov 26, 2019 at 11:19 AM Matt Anderson <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > I was talking to an old work colleague who used to live in Zambia. > > Apparently a Leeds team came to Lusaka and played a local team. My > > colleague was in goal for them and they lost 4-0 to a Leeds United > > representative team. > > > > I had a look on Google but couldn’t find anything. > > > > Anyone have any recollection of this game taking place. He has press > > clippings but doesn’t give any details of who played fir us. > > > > Assume it was either kids or reserves and possibly tied to the > > signing of Lucas and Phil and some South African tour maybe > > > > Sent from my iPhone > > _______________________________________________ > > Leedslist mailing list > > Info and options: > > https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist > > To unsubscribe, email [email protected] > > > > Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ > > > > RIP Jimmy WAC-COE > > > _______________________________________________ > Leedslist mailing list > Info and options: > https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist > To unsubscribe, email [email protected] > > Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ > > RIP Jimmy WAC-COE > _______________________________________________ > Leedslist mailing list > Info and options: > https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist > To unsubscribe, email [email protected] > > Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ > > RIP Jimmy WAC-COE > _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ RIP Jimmy WAC-COE _______________________________________________ Leedslist mailing list Info and options: https://mailman.gn.apc.org/mailman/listinfo/leedslist To unsubscribe, email [email protected] Find us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/leedslist/ RIP Jimmy WAC-COE
