AFCON starts on the 21 December to 18 January 2026.
Due to the historically large number of players from the PSL active at AFCON, the league goes on a summer break. About 36 players from the PSL at the last tournament in 2023.
Typically, clubs arrange mini tournaments during this time to keep players (not selected for AFCON) active and because of TV money.
Hopefully he doesn't struggle for playing time there.
Pirates are top of the PSL, and had 8 players in the Bafana Bafana AFCON squad, including 4 forwards.
ADJ's still an outside chance of getting picked for the WC with a few injuries, and a 26 player squad size. Though Bazeley gave him zero mins in the Nov window, despite being in the AWs squad.
Great! I was beginning to worry that the "new coach" at Stellies was going to hold up the transfer.
Andre will be competing with 3 players for the no.10 role at "the Buccaneers". Two of them were with Bafana at the AFCON.
Rele Mofokeng - the 21 yo is expected to leave for Europe or MLS at the end of the season. Minnesota United did make an offer in August but the offer was rejected at the last minute as Pirates management wished to keep the play maker for 1 more season and win the league. Come to think about it, it's possible he leave in this transfer window like his Bafana and Orlando Pirates teammate Mbokazi (Chicago Fire)
Sipho "MasterChef" Mbule - returning from AFCON with Mofokeng is super talented however his career has been stalled due to his constant discipline issues.
Patrick "Tito" Maswanganyi - was Bafana Bafana deputy playmaker to Themba Zwane (Mamelodi Sundowns) who is currently injured, but lost form (due to injury) at the wrong time (about 2 months ago) and was dropped for AFCON.
Orlando Pirates tend to play with 1 striker. One of their main strikers, Mabasa, is set to leave but I'm sure they not looking at Andre to fill that role. Pirates are not in continental football this year so game time might be limited but the focus is definitely to win the league
Interest article from South Africa on Adj move to Orlando Pirates. The reporter is speaking to Tso Vilakazi who is a former Bafana and Orlando Pirates player and popular YouTuber.
WARNING: Snowflakes might be offended by the language used by Tso Vilakazi but please understand this is coming from a South African context. He is very complimentary of Adj football skills "for a white player". If you want me to explain the context please ask, I will be happy to do so. Anyway....
Adj is getting a lot more attention from SA media now that he has moved to Orlando Pirates.
The clip below is from last year which I completely missed. It's from a YouTuber in SA after a Stellenbosch game. Many football analyst discussing Andre move are putting him in the 10 position and not striker (which is very good). All goodness in SA.
Media attention (formal and informal) is huge. Orlando Pirates being the 2nd biggest club in SA, his transfer has gathered a lot of attention and opinions. Must fans are really happy his on "the ship".
Another interesting comment about the level of the PSL coming from Hugo Broos (73), the national team coach of Bafana Bafana to a Belgium website. The story is about a young South Africa striker, Magididi (20) who is signing for Belgium club Beerschot in the 2nd division. A little background knowledge on Broos he is a STRAIGHT TALKER, no holds barred and often gets himself in trouble with clubs, agents, players and the association. SA fans love him lol
Anyway...he said this about the level of the PSL
"The South African first division is a bit stronger than the Belgian second division, but not on the level of the Jupiler Pro League.”
Now remember I attached an article a few weeks ago from a Belgium coach, based in Belgium who said the Top 8 PSL clubs can compete with the Jupiler Pro League very well and the other half would probably be 2nd division.
Adj comes off the pine in the 78ish minute and was the catalyst for the 2nd goal in the 83ish minute. The "Buccaneers" lead the table with 3 points above Mamelodi Sundowns with Kaizer Chiefs third after 15 games.
Could Adj finish this season with a League winners medal?
First goal in Orlando Pirates colours for Andre De Jong, converting from the penalty spot in a Nedbank Cup victory (following two subs appearances in the league)
PSL rules state that players in the 2nd division must be u23 with the exception of 2/3 players in the squad.
There are about 2/3 Cape Town based teams in the 2nd division and I think it would be a good option for Dublin Boon if he chooses not to continue with Stellenbosch Reserves next season.
Pirates hierarchy feels like it's now or never when it comes to the league. The have turned down numerous offers (MLS/Europe) for some of their key attacking talent to be in this position. That talent is not likely to stick around for another season.
That's all nice, but think he needs to actually be getting mins in this stacked Pirates team, esp in a big match like this Sundowns one. Zero mins on the weekend.
Otherwise he shouldn't be in WC calculations. Lachie Bayliss is the current potential WC bolter, and plays in basically the same part of the field as ADJ.
Honestly nobody knows what Pirates manager is going to do. In the 1st round of OP vs MS he started the game with 19 yo Cemran Dansin in the midfield (to everybodies surprise) who scored the goal of the season in that game. There are so many midfield options in that team.
Whether Adj plays or not, I don't think he will get on the plane. Baze doesn't trust him (I think). Lachie Bayliss is a great player and is the right age for this and next WC.
New Zealand international Andre de Jong says his January transfer to Orlando Pirates was part-motivated by his desire to claim a spot in the All Whites’ FIFA Men’s World Cup squad.
“I think it’s massive, and this was one of the reasons why the move was so big for me, obviously close to the World Cup selection coming up,” de Jong told a media briefing in Johannesburg.
The 11-cap All White joined the South Africa Premiership club from league rivals Stellenbosch, and de Jong says the Pirates’ high profile will help his chances of securing a place in the national squad.
“The All Whites have a couple of games in March back home, so I would really be keen to be involved in that, and I think anyone in the PSL is pushing — obviously Bafana are at the World Cup as well, so I think it’s lifting the standard of competition at Pirates as well,” de Jong said.
New Zealand will play Finland and Chile at Auckland’s Eden Park in late March, as part of the four-nation FIFA Series.
“The games in March will be interesting, if I can get called up to that, but I think it’s starting to settle into people how big the move was over on that side of the world,” he said.
De Jong (29) said his focus was on becoming a regular starter for the Pirates.
“Hopefully I can get some minutes on the pitch and really stake a claim to make that World Cup squad.”
Mamelodi Sundowns made big changes to their 1st squad vs TS Galaxy and paid the price.
TS Galaxy 2 - 0 Mamelodi Sundowns
I was up early this morning and was greatful to find that somebody had put the link to the game on ulube. Lol I caught 30 minutes into the 2nd half and extra time.
Casric are fourth in the 2nd division and went after OP. They gave no quarter and put pressure on "the Buccaneers". Remember 2nd division teams are mostly u23 players. Adj played upfront and was really unlucky on a number of occasions but on the whole Pirates were wasteful. For the 2nd time this season Pirates are out of a major tournament via penalties (Caf Champions League)
So Pirates are out of the Nedbank Cup in the last sixteen and their dream of winning the PSL got a bit more complicated after the Sundowns loss (interestingly, Sundown also got beaten in the cup). And for ADJ, it’s been a slow start at his new club. Only used as a substitute in the league so far. His two starts (and only goal) have come in the cup which they’re now eliminated from. They’ve eased him in slowly, to be expected after he joined a team that was already successful. But perhaps this past week will force a few changes.
Abdeslam Ouaddou, Pirates head coach: “I think Andre’s settled well at the club. When he came, we sat with him and the technical staff, our analyst department, and we showed him what he’s able to bring to the club. He’s a very clever player, a top man, very kind guy and very ambitious as well. When we give him time to show what he’s able to do, he tried to give his best and I’m sure that there’s a lot of the best from Andre that we’re going to see next 13-14 games that we have. I’m very happy about his commitment. Very happy about what he can bring the team. At the moment, with the numbers we have, it’s difficult to bring him quickly but I’m sure we’ll see the best from him soon.”
Andre De Jong: “There’s a few contributing factors [into why I found form at Stellenbosch], one of them is game-time, it was massive and having the support of the technical team at Stellenbosch, it was massive for me. At AmaZulu I got injured a few too many times and then was in and out of the team and at Royal AM it was a short stint, but I really found my feet at Stellenbosch, it was a great stepping stone for me. Obviously there’s been a few New Zealanders who played here before, also Michael Boxall, so prior to coming over here I actually chatted to them, and they spoke very highly of the league and the country in general. And so far, my time has been incredible, so yeah – just hoping to emulate some of the stuff Brockie did in front of goal and if it’s half of what he did it would be amazing of course.”