Maritzburg happy with new recruit Yakubu fitness

Maritzburg United insist new signing Yakubu Mohammed will add value to the team, despite Roger de Sa’s comments that the Ghanaian striker was in no shape to play.

Mohammed, who today signed a four-year deal with Maritzburg, looked set to join Pirates, but the move fell through after De Sa had a closer look at the player.

“He had one session and after 30 minutes he pulled off. He was out of breath and he couldn’t keep up. So I mean really are we going to sign a player who can only do 30 minutes of training? You must remember that if you are going to bring in a foreigner he must be better than what you have,” De Sa told KickOff.com.

“That’s why our national team struggles, because every foreigner that arrives here with a half a CV, we sign. We’ve got to think local if they are not better than the locals.”

However, Maritzburg coach Ernst Middendorp clearly saw something different, and team manager Quintin Jettoo feels they have a good signing on their hands.

“He has been with us since last week Friday already. The coach was impressed with him and felt that he can add value to the team,’ Jettoo says.

Mohammed was the Ghanaian League’s second top scorer last season with 14 goals, so what went wrong?

A quick check of Wikipedia shows that Ashanti Gold are based in the southern Ghanaian town of Obuasi, which is 101 metres above sea level. Johannesburg is over 1 000 metres higher at 1 753.

It is a well-documented fact that players coming from low altitude areas struggle with adjusting, even when given some time to adapt to the altitude change – complaints of shortness of breath and sluggishness are common.

If one needs convincing of what playing at high altitude without adequate preparation can do, a reminder of Argentina's humbling in Bolivia during 2010 World Cup qualification should suffice. The minnows ran rings around the likes of Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez in their 3 600m high fortress in La Paz en route to a 6-1 hammering.

New Zealand rugby teams who come to play Gauteng sides are known to go for an acclimatisation period in Durban in preparation for their games on the Highveld. Perhaps Pirates should have given Mohammed another look.