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SAFA Awards 2009

1. Players Awards / Men National Teams

1.1. Bafana Bafana

• Steven Pienaar – is a creative midfielder who engineers attacking moves for his English Premiership club Everton. Pienaar has incredible vision and ball distribution prowess, this attributes are but two of the many that makes him an attacking force for Bafana Bafana.
• Siboniso Gaxa – is a solid as a rock defender, his defensive attributes are complemented by his ability to dribble past defenders; a rare gift for defensive players indeed. Gaxa's level of fitness enables him to make overlapping runs, and to create goal scoring opportunities with his quality crosses. He is a consistent performer at his club Mamelodi Sundowns and the National team.
• Macbeth Sibaya – is an organiser in the middle of the park with strong leadership qualities. He takes no prisoners with his ball winning tackles, and he has the ability to turn defence into attack. His attitude and personality always prevail when he wears the Bafana jersey; it is also the same when he plays for his Russian team Rubin Kazan.

1.2. National under 20- Amajita

• Thulani Serero is described by football connoisseurs as an Intelligent Player who reads the game very well. Serero is highly technical; he is a very good passer of the ball with the ability to position himself very well for goalscoring opportunities. Serero has done exceptionally well for his club Ajax Cape Town and for the National under 20 team, Amajita.
• Philane Khwela has a great work rate which is complemented by his strong technical ability. Khwela gets the Amajita team going through his leadership qualities, and that has propelled him to play for Feyenoord in Holland.
• Daylon Claasen is regarded as the general who control the match tempo from the middle of the park. Claasen is very intelligent and he reads the game very well. He has a strong willpower and it manifest itself at his team in Holland, Ajax Amsterdam.

1.3 Senior Women's National Team - Banyana Banyana

• Noko Matlou is a prolific striker who scores from any position. She was Voted African Player of the year 2008, the first South African player to win this award. She was a joint top goal scorer at the 6^th African Women's Championships and joint Player of the tournament. Matlou Scored an amazing 33 goals in 26 games. She Plays for Brazilian FC in Limpopo.

• Kylie - Ann Louw is a key midfield playmaker in Banyana and is the main provider of great passes to the forwards. Presently she is the Captain of Banyana and marshals the team with aplomb. Louw was awarded a top scholarship to study in Texas in the USA in 2009. She has 52 caps and 5 goals. She graduated from the SAFA/LOTTO High Performance Centre project and played in Basetsana as well. She Played for Luso FC before moving to the USA.

• Nompumelelo Nyandeni is a Solid midfield general who can also revert to playing in other positions on the left and right as a midfielder or striker. She was selected for Banyana at age 15. Nyandeni has amassed 79 caps and scored 23 goals. She is a Stalwart in midfield for Banyana and she is also a graduate of the SAFA/LOTTO High Performance centre programme. Nyandeni has also played for Basetsana; she was voted Player of the Tournament at the recent SASOL play-offs in Cape Town. Nyandeni is a captain of Detroit FC in Mpumalanga.

2. Coaching Awards

• Gavin Hunt. He won back to back Absa Premiership titles with Supersport United; he had to keep Matsantsa a Pitori focused all the way because of the sustained pressure by other teams. Gavin was recently appointed as a Technical Assessor for Bafana Bafana.
• Styles Phumo. He guided United FC from the Free State to the finals of the Vodacom National Play offs, after a long and tough season in the Vodacom league, Phumo successfully navigated United FC to the National First Division, after defeating Batau FC in a pulsating final that was decided on penalties after a two all draw on regulation time.
• Jomo Sono. Jomo Sono defied the odds and made a greatest comeback to the Absa Premiership after his club Jomo Cosmos was relegated in the previous season. It was on an easy comeback, Jomo Sono had to win the National First Division Inland stream first, and decide Ezenkosi's fate in the gruelling National Play offs. Sono was also roped in as a Technical Assessor for Bafana Bafana.
• Serame Letsoaka. As coach of the National under 20 side, Letsoaka has qualified Amajita for the African Youth championships in Rwanda earlier in the year, the team reached the semi finals and automatically qualified for the under 20 FIFA World Cup in Egypt. Letsoaka's boys reached the last 16 of the tournament and lost to Ghana in extra time. Letsoaka has now assumed his new responsibility as SAFA's Technical Director.

There are other awards categories that will be profiled in the Association's next communiqué.