Euro trips to camps at the beach: How teams are preparing for return of PSL

As the Premier Soccer League (PSL) is set to resume after the seven-week break due to the 2022 Fifa World Cup, a number of teams have employed different strategies to prepare for the second half of the season.

Some clubs have taken their preparations outside South Africa while others have gone on team-building exercises.

SowetanLIVE sister publication, TimesLIVE takes a look at how some PSL teams have camped during the break:

TS Galaxy

The Rockets took their preparations to Europe and have been camping in Turkey.

During their stay, Galaxy have played three friendly matches against sides from Italy, Saudi Arabia and Turkey.

Their first match against Turkish top tier side Giresunspor ended in a 1-1 draw where Lindokuhle Mbatha was on the scoresheet for the South Africans.

Galaxy’s second outing against Serie A club Sampdoria ended 5-1 in favour of the Italians with Bathusi Aubaas scoring the only goal for the PSL side.

Their meeting with Al-Batin FC of Saudi Arabia ended in a 1-1 draw, thanks to a goal by veteran midfielder Sibusiso Vilakazi.

Galaxy play one more match against SG Dynamo of German on Thursday.

The Mpumalanga team will hope their camp and experience they gained in Turkey will help them change their fortunes in the DStv Premiership where they are in 12th place with 13 points from 12 outings.

They resume their league campaign away against Maritzburg United on Friday, December 30.

AmaZulu

Usuthu have been preparing for their return to competitive football mostly at their base in Durban, but they recently went on a team-building exercises in Somopho Hills in Empangeni in northern KwaZulu-Natal.

Team-building centre Somopho Hills is known for activities such as hiking, quad biking, paintball, camping and bird watching.

AmaZulu also played a friendly match against Motsepe Foundation Championship club Uthongathi FC.

Mamelodi Sundowns

The five-time Premiership defending champions kicked off their preparations at their base in Chloorkop before moving to Polokwane for their “special training camp”.

SuperSport United

SuperSport recently completed a training camp in Durban.

Other clubs

Kaizer Chiefs have been preparing at their base in Johannesburg, while it’s not clear if their rivals Orlando Pirates had any special plans.

Cape Town City have also been putting in hard work in the Cape, including playing friendlies where they gave their new Columbian signing Juan Camilo Zapata a run.