Marked for Teboho Dala
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad15 Feb 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sifiso Modiba
98 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. SuperSport United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Squad15 Feb 2027
There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Sifiso Modiba was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Match13 Feb 2027
Mamelodi Sundowns left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad15 Feb 2027
Words at SuperSport United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Andile Mokoena is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings25 Jan 2027
Successful dribbles: 46. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad25 Jan 2027
A knee injury of the worst kind for Sifiso Modiba
123 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. SuperSport United lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Market25 Jan 2027
$720.0K. No player has ever cost SuperSport United more, and expectation arrives with him.
Market25 Jan 2027
Teboho Dala hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what SuperSport United can pretend not to have heard.
Market25 Jan 2027
The bid was some way short and SuperSport United did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad25 Jan 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at SuperSport United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The terraces25 Jan 2027
SuperSport United spend $720.0K on the signing the town wanted
It is the rarest sequence in football: supporters ask for something, and the club goes and does it. $720.0K for Fredrick Asare, and for one week nobody is complaining about anything.
Squad25 Jan 2027
Andile Mokoena falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 44. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Sifiso Modiba was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Khama Dolly falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Match7 Nov 2026
It finished 2‑1, and it was Mandla Zungu’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to SuperSport United.
Squad9 Nov 2026
21 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings9 Nov 2026
Some games turn on a moment; this one turned on a man. 7.86 on the card, and the SuperSport United support went home talking about one name.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings2 Nov 2026
Successful dribbles: 33. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match31 Oct 2026
8 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at SuperSport United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Deusa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Andile Mabunda named in the team of the month
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Andile Mabunda is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Tartá gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Teboho Dala dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 33. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad26 Oct 2026
There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Khama Dolly falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The terraces26 Oct 2026
At 15 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Player ratings26 Oct 2026
Marked 8.54 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
Successful dribbles: 34. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Teboho Dala: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” SuperSport United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Sifiso Modiba was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings12 Oct 2026
A performance of 8.21 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Juan Deusa falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
Squad12 Oct 2026
50 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 66. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad21 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at SuperSport United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Sep 2026
Chippa United left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at SuperSport United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Juan Deusa is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad21 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Teboho Dala dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 41. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market7 Sep 2026
Zlin come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and SuperSport United did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market7 Sep 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at SuperSport United, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Words at SuperSport United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khama Dolly is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
Squad7 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at SuperSport United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Teboho Dala dropped after a run of poor form
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 8.85, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Market24 Aug 2026
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market24 Aug 2026
Add another name to the list: Dynamo Kyiv have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Khama Dolly. The answer from SuperSport United has not changed — yet.
Squad24 Aug 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at SuperSport United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match22 Aug 2026
7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about SuperSport United and Bloemfontein Celtic in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Words at SuperSport United training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Khama Dolly is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The terraces24 Aug 2026
The crowd has taken to Khama Dolly
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market3 Aug 2026
RC Lens come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and SuperSport United did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market3 Aug 2026
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at SuperSport United heard it as anything else.
Squad3 Aug 2026
Dean Ngcobo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.