Despite recent poor performances, Kaizer Chiefs’ head coach Nasreddine Nabi made intriguing statements following their convincing victory. The Chiefs, one of South Africa’s competitive teams, came prepared to the match against SuperSport United in the first round of the Carling Knockout, winning 4-0 in honor of their club chairman’s 80th anniversary.
Goals for Kaizer Chiefs were scored by Gaston Sirino, Yusuf Maart, Ranga Chivaviro, and Ashley du Preez. If Chivaviro had not missed clear opportunities, the match could have ended differently. Chivaviro was booed by the fans for squandering those chances, but Coach Nabi emphasized the need to support players going through tough times:
“Our responsibility as coaches is to protect our players when they go through some difficult moments. We can’t have emotional reactions like the fans, and that’s why we didn’t sub him when he missed those chances. I told him to keep focus and he was going to score, and he scored and he was happy. The trust that we have put in him has paid off.”
Nabi also expressed dissatisfaction with the overall performance, stating:
“I don’t think overall in 90 minutes we had a good performance because there were times where we allowed the opponent to get on the front foot, getting wide balls, crosses, and opportunities to score. But we said, in a cup game, you don’t play it; you just have to win it. The commitment the players showed was at a good level. Everyone was aware that a few days ago it was our chairman, Kaizer Motaung’s anniversary, and we wanted to offer him this victory… we wanted this for him because he has sacrificed a lot for this team. We need him to go forward.”
