Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates went through to the Nedbank Cup last 16, both the Soweto giants achieved the feat after winning 2-0 against Maritzburg United and All Stars FC respectively.

Chiefs drew first blood on Friday night against a 10 men Maritzburg side at the Harry Gwala Stadium, in an encounter that went to extra time with both sides still locked at 0-0 after 90 minutes, Amakhosi broke the deadlock when latest signee Christian Saile scored his first goal for Amakhosi in the 92nd minute.

The introduction of Happy Mashiane proved to be perfect fit in Amakhosi's puzzle as the left-footed defender put a dangerous ball in Maritzburg's box only for Ashley Du Preez to pounce and score a beautiful worked goal.

The victory eased the pressure off on coach Arthur Zwane and the team at large, with the Nedbank Cup being the only piece of silverware Chiefs can attain, Arthur Zwane and his charges will hope to go all the way in a bid to win the cup and end the season on a high note.

Meanwhile at the Bidvest Stadium Orlando Pirates had to rely on Thembinkosi Lorch to revive their second half performance as they defeated All Stars FC 2-0.

Lorch came in just after halftime as Pirates were struggling in front of goal during the first 45 minutes with All Stars managing to hold the DSTV Premiership side.

The introduction of Lorch really worked in Pirates favour as he was part of the build up to Pirates' first goal in the 62nd minute through Monnapule Saleng.

The goal looked to have spurred Pirates on as in less than 10 minutes Lorch scored his first goal since returning from injury and Pirates' 2nd of the night.

The Buccaneers saw their coach Jose Riviero receive his marching orders as he was given a red card late in the second half, despite Riviero's red card, Pirates managed to see the match out with Mandla Ncikazi at the helm.

2.South African teams impress at continental duty.

With the commencement of the CAF Champions League and the CAF Confederation Cup during the weekend, Mamelodi Sundowns and Marumo Gallants both impressed and won their opening fixtures in their respective groups.

Sundowns defeated Al-Hilal 1-0 at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium through a Cassius Mailula goal in the 25th minute of the encounter.

In a match where Sundowns should have won by atleast 3 goals, Rhulani Mokwena's charges had to settle for the narrow 1-0 victory.

Sundowns next face Cameroon giants Coton Sport on the 17th of February at the Stade Omnisport Roumdé Adjia in Cameroon.

Meanwhile at the Dobsonville Stadium Marumo Gallants thrashed Al Akhdar 4-1 in their opening encounter of the CAF Confederation Cup.

Gallants’ win means that they climb to the top of Group A after goals from Lesiba Nku, Ranga Chivaviro (two) and Joseph Malongoane.

Nku opened the scoring in the first half, while Chivaviro racked up his brace before Malongoane wrapped up the win as Gallants won their second game in a row.

While Akram Alzawi scored the consolation goal for the Libyan side late in the second half.

Drawn in Group A alongside USM Alger, Al Akhdar and FC Saint-Éloi Lupopo, Gallants will look to ease past the three teams in a bid to qualify for the knockout phase of the competition.

Spanish giants Real Madrid were crowned the FIFA Club World Cup champions for a record extending fifth time after defeating Saudi Arabia's Al Hilal 5-3 in a thrilling final in Rabat; Morocco.

Two goals each from Federico Valverde and Vinicius Jr, as well as a Karim Benzema strike, secured the win for the reigning European champions.

Despite Al Hilal also scoring 3 goals through Luciano Vietto scoring twice and Moussa Marega scoring once for the Asian champions, Madrid proved to be too strong for the Saudi side.

Los Blancos manager Carlo Ancelotti mentioned that the victory was an important one and they are happy with being crowned the Club World Cup champions again.

"We are happy to be World Champions again, this shows the amount of quality we have in the team, I am also happy about the consistency the team has managed to achieve," Ancelotti said.

Madrid will now turn their focus back to the Spanish La Liga as they take on Elche on the 15th of February 2023 trailing log leaders Barcelona by 11 points.

After winning the toss and choosing to bowl first, the Sunrises Eastern Cape had Roelof van der Merwe to thank as he claimed four important wickets of Phil Salt, Eathan Bosch, Migael Pretorius and Theunis de Bruyn in the final of the Betway SA20 against Pretoria Capitals at the Wanderers Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

Van der Merwe claimed a match-winning four for 31 runs while Sisanda Magala also got in on the act claiming the two crucial wickets of Rilee Rossouw and Wayne Parnell to restrict the Capitals to 135 all out in 19.3 overs.

Chasing a modest 136 for victory, the Sunrises lost opener Temba Bavuma for 2 runs early in the innings, the departure of Bavuma brought Jordan Hermann to the crease and together with Adam Rossington, the duo shared a partnership of 67 off just 31 balls for the second wicket before Hermann ran past a turning delivery by Adil Rashid and was stumped by Phil Salt for 22 with 78 runs on the board. 

The Sunrises then continued with the run chase as the likes of Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs and Jordan Cox all came in to contribute to the run chase however they also stumbled and were bowled out.

Despite the departure of the middle order batsman, the damage had already been done as Marco Jansen guided the side from Eastern Cape to victory with 22 balls to spare. 

During the awards ceremony Sunrises Eastern Cape's Aiden Markram walked home with the Player of the tournament accolade while the Player of the match was Roelof van der Merwe.

Austria's men's hockey side successfully defended their World title at the 2023 FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup at the Heartfelt Arena in Pretoria on Saturday.

The Austrian men's side defeated Netherlands 3-2 in penalties after both sides we locked at 4-4 in regulation time with tournament top scorer Michael Körper netting a hat-trick.

His strikes sent the title decider to a shootout, which the Austrians edged 3-2 for a memorable victory.

Meanwhile in the women's final, Netherlands won their third women's title in the last five editions of the World Cup.

The Netherlands thumped Austria 7-0 at the Heartfelt Arena in Pretoria with South Africa's Minister of Sport Nathi Mthethwa also in attendance.

South Africa's women side finished 4th in the World Cup after going down 3-1 to Czech Republic in the third-place playoff encounter.