The Manchester City Project

Manchester City face the Kaizer Chiefs in the Vodacom challenge today live video stream of the match here. The Kaizer Chiefs came through to the final on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the Soweto derby on Thursday.

City have confirmed that Emmanuel Adebayor and Robhino are set to take part in the final whilst Carlos Tevez has to wait for his first run out in a City shirt with a heel injury. Mark Hughes said: “Carlos has had a continual problem with his heel and we had it checked yesterday. He is probably going to miss a week of training. We have checked Emmanuel out and he has looked good so far, his fitness levels are fine and he could play a significant part tomorrow.”

The Kaizer Chiefs are set to keep a similar line-up to the one that faced City on Tuesday. However they will be without Reneilwe Letsholonyane who broke his leg after a challenge from Orlando Pirate’s Blaise Kiaku in the derby draw.

Kaizer Chiefs coach Vladimir Vermezovic is not worried about which players City play in the final so long as his players get a good workout ahead of the new season, claiming a win would be a bonus: “I am not concerned about who City will field against us. It will be good if they play all their new stars as none of them have played together before and that gives us a chance. Anything is possible in soccer. But to me this is show football. It is pre-season training for both teams and reaching the final was a big bonus for us. But, win or lose, I want my players to go out and enjoy the experience.”

The game will be shown live thanks to the official Manchester City website from 2pm today: http://live.mcfc.co.uk/

The Manchester City starting line up:
Given, Vidal, Dunne, Onuoha, Bridge, Barry, de Jong, Wright-Phillips, Petrov, Bellamy, Adebayor.

Vidal off with an injury on 15 - replaced by Ben haim. After 35 minutes Dunne picked up an injury and was replaced by Zabletta.

Current Score: 1-0 to the Kaizer Chiefs.

Adebayor and Barry having excellent games at the moment. The evidence for further defensive recruits is obvious.

Manchester City made several changes to the side that were beaten 2-0 against the Orlando Pirates on Saturday for the trip to play the Kaizer Chiefs on Tuesday night. Shaun Wright-Phillips, Wayne Bridge, Stephen Ireland and Gareth Barry all played a part in the match. Stephen Ireland was named captain in the first half.

The Kaizer chiefs were largely depending upon long range efforts, their first came after 2 minutes when Mathebula’s effort flew over Taylor’s crossbar. City had the better of the half however; Shaun Wright-Phillips was excellent in the opening stages and created a number of chances and attacking moves. Gareth Barry gave a fine display – athletically reinforcing the defence when required and troubling the Chief’s defence with several runs. One of which came on the half hour when Caicedo put the England player through on goal, only to be thwarted by Khune the Chief’s goalkeeper. The move however turned into a counter attack that resulted in a good move ending with Motaung Junior hitting the side netting. Just before the break Ireland converted a low cross to take a 1-0 lead at half time. There were few chances in the closing stages but City had a let-off with nine minutes to go when Kaizer Motaung Jr failed to find the target from 15 yards. The home side continued to apply the pressure in the final 10 minutes with several shots going astray as City's young defense tired.

Gareth Barry was pleased with his first performance in City blue: "I was delighted to get out and feel good. Training is different but I'm getting used to it... ...I signed a five-year deal and think I'll play in the Champions League with City."

Kaizer Chiefs coach Vladimir Vermezovic was disappointed with the result and the Chiefs performance in front of goal but he did gain some positives from the match: “It is true that Man City were too strong for us, but we had some opportunities to score and that is good... ...Overall I would say we did not play so good, but I am satisfied with some things and other things I know we can be better. But it is a long road ahead and this is just part of the journey.”

City manager Hughes was pleased with another tough work out in the Vodacom Challenge: “It was another good workout for us and once again we came up against good opposition. It was a great atmosphere in the stadium and we were delighted to be able to give more players some game-time and see them all come through unscathed.”

“We have actually all been commenting on the atmosphere that the South African crowds can generate. It is stimulating for the players. Games at this stage of the season can sometimes have no energy, but that doesn’t happen in South Africa, there is huge enthusiasm for the game in this country and that has been recognised by us.”

Below is footage taken 18 July 2009 at the City Of Manchester Stadium at the City Live II event that presented big screen showing of Orlando Pirates versus Manchester City and the signing of Emmanuel Adebayor.

On Saturday the stadium was surrounded by hundreds of fans for the release of the new umbro kit and the big screen showing of the Vodacom Challenge opener. Many of the families took advantage of the entertainment on offer free of charge around the ground. Despite a technical hitch that prevented the match being beamed live for the first 30 minutes of the game and the 2-0 score line to the Pirates – the day was an enjoyable one.

After the game fans began to gather outside of the main entrance of the stadium as word began to spread that City’s next new signing was travelling to the stadium after agreeing to sign for the club. Adebayor was finally signed yesterday, arriving to hundreds of cheering fans. All of City’s latest signings did not play a part in the opening game of the Vodacom Challenge. City’s display highlighted the need for the new blood after an inept display. The only moments of real note for City were the return of Michael Johnson from injury and the energetic displays of youngsters Vlad Wiess and Mee.

City found themselves behind after 35 minutes when Thwala converted a harsh penalty for shirt pulling by Mee. After the break Mogale scored a long range screamer to the delight of the passionate home fans.

The team fielded by the blues consisted of largely “C” players that would be challenging for a place on the bench at best for the opening game against Blackburn. The result was therefore not a huge surprise. With defensive reinforcements on the way before the end of the transfer window City’s squad on paper will support Robinho’s claims that there is no longer a “top 4” in the premiership but a “top 5”.

Full Time: Orlando Pirates 2 Manchester City 0
Goals: Thwala 41` (pen) Mogale 55`

Orlando Pirates: Josephs, Thwala, Makonese, Lekgwathi, Mahamutsa, Mabalane, Chenene, Mthembu, Jali, Olivier, Kiaku.

Manchester City: Taylor, Zabaleta, Ben-Haim, Mee, Garrido, Weiss, Ireland, Johnson, Bojinov, Petrov, Bellamy.

This weekend see’s Orlando Pirates go head to head with Manchester City in the Vodacom Challenge.

The Head coach of the Pirates – Rudd Krol is taking a 29 man strong squad for the Bucs trip to Polokwane to face Man City. The squad includes some new signings including Gert Schalkwyk, Ndumiso Mabena and Andile Jali. A number of extra players including Dennis Masina, Phenyo Mongala, Congolese Blasise Kiaku and Cameroonian Frank Oliver, who are yet to sign for the club have also made the trip.

Krol considers the Vodacom Challenge Competition as a perfect platform to assess his players ahead of the gruelling 2009/2010 season, which has been shortened to give Bafana more time to gel ahead of next year’s world cup in the country.

Manchester City will be sending a full strength squad too with new signings Gareth Barry, Carlos Tevez and Santa Cruz. Gareth Barry today spoke at a press conference in South Africa about the trip and his wishes to return to South Africa next summer with the England team for the world cup:

Garry Cook who has played a vital role in the building of a squad capable of challenging for a top six finish this year also spole at the Vodacom Challenge press confrence and highlighted City's current spending philosophy:

Manchester City will open the 2009 Vodacom Challenge campaign against Orlando Pirates at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane this Saturday (18/07/09). The game is to be shown live outside the City of Manchester Stadium at 2pm.

*UPDATE* - This game has been and gone but if you click here you can see footage from the day outside the stadium plus the gathering of fans for the Adebayor signing.

The Vodacom Challenge has gained in popularity locally over the past number of seasons, in part thanks to Premier League teams taking part. Spurs won the challenge in 2007 and Manchester United in 2009, United came second to Kaizer Chiefs in 2006.

This year Manchester City, Kaiser Chiefs and the Orlando Pirates take up the challenge. City’s first opponents were founded in 1937, the pirates have become ingrained in the culture of the country and boast over ten to twelve million fans. Their most successful era was during the 70’s dominating the National Professional Soccer League. They were crowned the Kings of Africa in 1995 when they won the then CAF Champions Cup.

Manchester City has announced that they will be taking a full strength squad to the Vodacom Challenge, including new signings Gareth Barry, Carlos Tevez and Roque Santa Cruz. Robinho and Elano will not be available until the final after they have been given extra rest after their recent Brazilian success.

Garry Cook has confirmed that the new kit will be worn in the game. Cook said of the tournament: "There is a great deal of excitement in Manchester about the Challenge and everybody is anticipating a great trip… The players have just completed a full week in Germany where they did a lot of fitness and stamina work and are now looking forward to playing some matches."

After the first game City will play the Kaizer Chiefs before the two African clubs play each other. The winner of the two African teams on the 23rd of July will play City in the final on Saturday 25th July.

The Manchester City new kit will be officially released on Saturday and will be on sale at the City of Manchester Stadium from 9am when the City Store opens for the new season. Saturday will be the second day of the “City Live” event and the match will be shown live on a big screen outside the ground opposite the East Stand, kick off 2pm. There will also be family entertainment and a BBQ. The match is also being shown on the mcfc website live.

With the new signings and anticipation surrounding the team Saturday could prove to be very atmospheric.

City Live: Man City vs. Orlando Pirates, 2pm, big screen, East Stand: Free
Click here to see mcfc article about the day

MANCHESTER CITY SQUAD FOR THE VODACOM CHALLENGE: Shay Given,Kasper Schmeichel, Pablo Zabaleta, Michael Johnson, Stephen Ireland, Valeri Bojinov Javier Garrido, Martin Petrov,Shaun Wright-Phillips, Wayne Bridge,Benjani Mwaruwari, Richard Dunne, Kelvin Etuhu, Craig Bellamy, Nigel de Jong, Felipe Caicedo, Ched Evans, Shaleum Logan, Vladimir Weiss, Ryan McGivern, Stuart Taylor, Roque Santa Cruz, Gareth Barry, Robinho (arriving a week later), Elano (arriving a week later), Micah Richards, Nedum Onuoha, Carlos Tevez