Chiefs paid tribute to Jomo Cosmos, who knocked the Glamour Boys out in the second round, to ultimately lift their second Coke Cup title since 1996.

Amakhosi also took note of the achievements of SuperSport United, who lost to Cosmos in the final.

Ezenkosi took home five flair awards with a combined value of R110 000 over and above the R2 millions pay cheque for winning the cup.

Leading the list of winner was Liberian striker Anthony Laffor, who was voted the “Flair Player” of the tournament and walked home with a R50 000 cheque plus a red jacket, another unique innovation by the sponsors - perhaps taking a leaf from golf and cycling.

Laffor was an instrumental figure in Ezenkosi’s resurgence following a slow start to the league campaign. Many had written Cosmos as a relegation candidates and made calls for Jomo Sono to “fire the coach” as the ship was heading nowhere.

But it seems Sono knew more than those who were calling for his head.

Players like Laffour were consistent performers in a team that struggled to get the result but when Cosmos finally hit the high note against Silver Stars in their opening Coca-Cola Cup match, lady luck was beginning to smile.

As a result Cosmos went on to knock out Kaizer Chiefs then Orlando Pirates to set up a final against SuperSport United.

And Sono for his troubles, he was awarded the “Flair Coach” of the tournament with a R20 000 cheque to add his bulging bank balance.

Then it was Avril Phali's turn to dish out humble pies. The Cosmos stopper had received so much criticism after all it was his schoolboy errors that had plunged Cosmos into a relegation mess early in the season, observers said.

But his coach never lost hope in him and when he finally found his footing, there was simply no beating him as the opposition found out.

Phali was given the "Flair Save" of the tournament for his superb reflex saves throughout the competition particularly against Chiefs, Pirates and in the final against SuperSport.

The Cosmos keeper had to shake off competition from Calvin Marlin of SuperSport and Guy Mutshi of Black Leopards who had also made some stunning saves in the competition.

But for Phali, who did not stay long after collecting his award, the most significant accolade was a call-up to the national team that leaves on Wednesday for the African Cup of Nations in Egypt.

Senegalese striker Mamadou Diallo share the prize for leading scorer with Jabu Pule, Katlego Mphela, Joel Luphahla (all SuperSport) and Lerato Chabangu of Sundowns.

All had managed two goals in a competition that will best be remembered for its lack of “fair play” and robust defending.

For the first time in the history of the Coke Cup, a Cosmos supporter - Siza Bukhali - was rewarded for his loyal and enthusiastic support of the club.

Pirates, despite losing in the semifinals, were also there on the podium to receive recognition - "Flair Team" - for their performance which was “enterprising, full of passion and flair” display.

It was the second time Pirates had received such an honour. The previous one being the "Perfectly Balanced" team of the season award they won at the end of the season after narrowly losing the championship to rivals Chiefs.

WINNERS OF THE 2005 COCA-COLA FLAIR INCENTIVE AWARDS

MEDIA AWARDS


TV CATEGORY

1. 2005 COCA-COLA CUP FLAIR TV CAMERAMAN R10 000

WINNER: Victor Mahlambi (SABC)

RUNNERS-UP: Nhlanhla Labase (SABC)

PANEL COMMENTS: Victor won for his consistency, reliability, efficiency as well as effectively slotting in with the other camera persons.

2. 2005 COCA-COLA CUP FLAIR TV PRESENTER/ANALYST R10 000

WINNER: Thomas Mlambo (Ibhola Lethu)

RUNNERS-UP: Robert Marawa (Laduma)

Mzimaze Mgebisa (Laduma analyst)

PANEL COMMENTS: Thomas has developed into an excellent presenter. He is composed, has good control of the studio panel members and the invited guests, speaks with authority, is credible, articulate and his overall experience and confidence was evident in his presenting.

3. 2005 COCA-COLA CUP FLAIR TV COMMENTATOR R10 000

WINNER: Joe Hudla (Laduma)

RUNNERS-UP: Thabiso Tema (Laduma)

Mark Gleeson (Ibhola Lethu)

PANEL COMMENTS: Although this old war horse only commentated at two Coca-Cola Cup games, he wins for his successful transition from radio to television, his ability to capture the key moments, his player identification, keeps with the game and fills the gaps in games with relevant statistics and information therefore keeping the viewers interested.

4. 2005 COCA-COLA CUP FLAIR INSERT R10 000

WINNER: Engen Premier Soccer (SuperSport)

WINNING FEATURE: 24 November 2005.


Prize money to be shared between the Producer, Alvin Naiker,


Presenter, Thomas Mlambo and Analyst, Neil Tovey

PANEL COMMENTS: This feature qualified as the winning insert due to the novel and creative approach to a match report and was well presented. This live insert during an Engen Premier Soccer show was slick, informative and the use of studio guest, Kosta Papic, to talk about Pirates after their loss against Jomo Cosmos was excellent.

5. 2005 COCA-COLA CUP FLAIR TV PRODUCER R10 000

WINNER: Keletso Totlhanyo (Pirates v Black Leopards)

RUNNERS-UP: Jabu Mnyakeni (Chiefs v Cosmos)

PANEL COMMENTS: The production excellently captured the excitement on the field as well as in the stands. The cutaways were good and the camera change between close ups and long shots were well controlled and added to the slick production.

6. 2005 COCA-COLA CUP FLAIR TV NEWS REPORTER R10 000

WINNER: Matlhomola Morake (SABC)

Tshamano Makhadi (ETV)

RUNNERS-UP: Maseru Koaho (SABC)

PANEL COMMENTS: His Constant presence at games meant he was always in the know, he was competent in representing all channels, he got the right interviews and his edits to back his stories were of a high calibre.

PRINT MEDIA

7. 2005 COCA-COLA CUP FLAIR PHOTOGRAPHER R10 000

WINNER: Liza Jay (Daily Sun) pic on 8 November 2005

RUNNERS-UP: Sydney Seshibedi (Sunday Times) pic on 20 November 05

Veli Nhlapo (Sowetan) pic on 1 November 2005

PANEL COMMENTS: This excellent action shop managed to capture a rare moment with the keeper diving to prevent a goal.

8. 2005 COCA-COLA CUP FLAIR COMMUNITY PRINT REPORTER R10 000

WINNER: Happy Mnguni (City Vision)

RUNNER-UP: Sifiso Jacklas (Chiawelo Urban News)

PANEL COMMENTS: Last year there was no winner in this category but the panel was pleased to note that the situation is changing and more community newspapers are reporting on national soccer. Happy Mnguni did a sterling job on the Coca-Cola Cup with good indepth reporting and writing style.

9. 2005 COCA-COLA CUP FLAIR COLUMNIST/FEATURE WRITER N/A

PANEL COMMENTS: There were too few entries in this category to merit consideration.

10. 2005 COCA-COLA CUP FLAIR PLAYER PROFILE WRITER R10 000

WINNER: Patrick Baloyi (Daily Sun)

RUNNERS-UP: Kushatha Ndibi (Star)

S’Busiso Mseleku (City Press)

PANEL COMMENTS: It was obvious that Patrick is looking to specialize in perfecting his interviewing skills. He did a number of interesting profiles with key players using relevant and unusual quotes which were packaged creatively and informatively.

11. 2005 COCA-COLA CUP FLAIR MATCH PREVIEW REPORTER share R10 000

WINNER: Mninawa Ntloko (Business Day)

Matshelane Mamabolo (Saturday Star)

RUNNER-UP: Vincent Mashego (Daily Sun)

PANEL COMMENTS: After taking into consideration the quality, consistency and writing style of previews and weighing this up against the difference in writing for a daily and weekend newspaper as well as the space allocated to the journalists, it was decided to split the prize as both journalists produced high quality creative work.

12. 2005 COCA-COLA CUP FLAIR MATCH REVIEW REPORTER R10 000

WINNER: Farouk Abrahams (Cape Times)

RUNNERS-UP: Vincent Mashego (Daily Sun)

Slindile Khanyile (Isolezwe)

PANEL COMMENTS: The criteria used to select this winner was based primarily on creativity bearing in mind that millions had watched the game on television therefore journalists had to capture the imagination of the readers using different angles which Farouk managed to do.

13. 2005 COCA-COLA FLAIR COMMUNITY RADIO PRESENTER

PANEL COMMENT: The standard of footage submitted did not qualify for a winner in this category.

14. 2005 COCA-COLA FLAIR RADIO COMMENTATOR R10 000

WINNER: Simon Ramafalo (Thobela FM)

RUNNERS-UP: Cebo Manyaapelo (Motsweding)

Aaron Masemola (Ikwekwezi)

PANEL COMMENT: The standard of commentary from all commentators was good this year. Simon tipped the scales with his expressive, concise, creative commentating as well as giving good statistics and followed the ball so one felt one was at the game.

15. 2005 COCA-COLA FLAIR RADIO SPORT SHOW PRESENTER R10 000

WINNER: Simon Ramafalo (Thobela FM)

RUNNERS-UP: Jeff Moloi (Khaya FM)

Johann Russouw (RSG)

PANEL COMMENT: Simon won for his creative inclusion of interesting statistics and general information which added value to the Coca-Cola Cup as well as the way in which he introduced and presented his show.

16. 2005 COCA-COLA FLAIR FAN R10 000

WINNER: Siza Bukhali(Jomo Cosmos)

17. 2005 COCA-COLA CUP FLAIR MATCH OFFICIAL SHARE R10 000

WINNER: Abdul Ebrahim (Referee) Bloem Celtic v Pirates:SSU v Jomo Cosmos

Lazarus Matela (Ass. Referee) Santos v Black Leopards:Ajax v B Bucks

SSU v Free State Stars

RUNNERS-UP: Yugesh Anjith (Ass. Referee)

18. 2005 COCA-COLA CUP FLAIR CLUB OFFICIAL Share R10 000

WINNER: Coltrane Monyai (SSU)

David Skosana (SSU)

RUNNERS-UP: Sello Nduna (Bloemfontein Celtic)

PANEL COMMENTS: Coltrane and David share the prize for their respective tasks done for the club to promote the Coca-Cola Cup. They were both proactive, consistent, motivated their fans and effectively utilised the Coca-Cola sponsored buses to get their supporters into the stadiums.

19. 2005 COCA-COLA CUP FAIR PLAY

PANEL COMMENTS: Once again this year there were no humanitarian or gentlemanly incidents that epitomized exceptional goodwill to warrant this award.

20. 2005 COCA-COLA CUP HIGHEST GOAL SCORER share R25 000

Each receives R5 000


Jabu Pule (SSU)


Katlego Mphela (SSU)


Joel Luphahla (SSU)


Mamadou Diallo (Jomo Cosmos)


Lerato Chabangu (Mamelodi Sundowns)

21. 2005 COCA-COLA CUP FLAIR SAVE R25 000

WINNER: Avril Phali (Jomo Cosmos)

RUNNERS-UP: Calvin Marlin (SSU) v Jomo Cosmos 1st half of extra time 99 min

Guy Mutshi (Black Leopards) v Orlando Pirates in 34 min

PANEL COMMENTS: Avril Phali won for his consistent Flair Saves during the tournament particularly against Orlando Pirates, Kaizer Chiefs and in the Final against SuperSport, including his performance during the Penalty shoot out.

22. 2005 COCA-COLA CUP FLAIR GOAL R25 000

WINNER: Frank Makua (Dynamos) v Bloemfontein Celtic 43 min (Last 16) 23/10

RUNNERS-UP: Isaac Chansa (Orlando Pirates) v Black Leopards 34 min (Last16) 2/10

Mamadou Diallo (Jomo Cosmos) v Chiefs 9 min (QF) 6/11

Peter Ndlovu (Sundowns) v Arrows 85min (Last 16) 1/10

Jabu Pule (SSU) v Ajax CT 90 min (SF) 19/11

PANEL COMMENTS: Frank Makua’s goal won him the prize based on his composure, timing, control, execution, finesse and the degree of difficulty when he chipped the ball into the net. This was a goal of extremely unusual flair.

23. 2005 COCA-COLA CUP FLAIR TEAM R25 000

WINNER: Orlando Pirates

RUNNERS-UP: SuperSport United

Jomo Cosmos

PANEL COMMENTS: Although they did not win the Coca-Cola Cup, throughout the tournament their performance was enterprising, full of passion and flare.

24. 2005 COCA-COLA CUP FLAIR COACH R20 000

WINNER: Jomo Sono (Jomo Cosmos)

RUNNERS-UP: Pitso Mosimane (SSU)

Kosta Papic (Orlando Pirates)

PANEL COMMENTS: Any coach that eliminates the likes of Silver Stars, Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and SuperSport United certainly deserves this award!

25. 2005 COCA-COLA CUP FLAIR PLAYER R50 000

WINNER: Anthony Laffor (Jomo Cosmos)

RUNNERS-UP: Mamadou Diallo (Jomo Cosmos)

Avril Phali (Jomo Cosmos)

Jabu Pule (SSU)

PANEL COMMENTS: Laffor performed consistently well throughout the tournament and contributed significantly to the team winning the Coca-Cola Cup.