The Amakhosi faithful got their first glimpse of the Nasereddine Nabi era in the inaugural Toyota Cup, between Kaizer Chiefs and Young Africans, at the Toyota stadium in Bloemfontein on Sunday, which ended 4-0 to the Tanzanian champions.
Notwithstanding the one-sided final score, the capacity crowd that enjoyed a sunny winter’s afternoon of entertainment, will have seen enough positive signs from Amakhosi to feel encouraged and optimistic about a revival of fortunes for the Club in the coming season.
Nabi fielded a youthful line-up – clad in their brand new 2024/25 Kappa home kit for the first time on home soil – that included Mduduzi Shabalala, Samkelo Zwane, Mfundo Vilalazi and Nkosana Mbuthu, son of former Chiefs player Patrick ‘Ace’ Mbuthu.
The structure of the team both in and out of possession was much improved from last season and the passing was much sharper and quicker. However, it is clear that patience will be required for the combinations to gel and in time, the strategy will come together. It should be noted that Young Africans are in a more advanced stage of their pre-season preparations, having played a number of testing friendly matches, while Nabi has had limited time with his squad since arriving at the conclusion of his previous contract.
Yanga took the lead in somewhat fortuitous fashion after 25 minutes, when Prince Dube made the most of a ricochet off Given Msimango to stab the ball past Brandon Petersen as the ball fell kindly into his path.
The visitors doubled their lead three minutes into first half stoppage time, courtesy of Aziz Ki, who tucked the ball away following a mistake by Mbuthu that can be put down to inexperience, as the teenager dallied on the ball and lost possession in a dangerous area.
Amakhosi emerged for the second half wearing their 2024/25 Kappa away kit, a stylish black jersey, embellished with striped gold feathers that are featured on the Club crest.
Sadly, their luck did not improve and they fell further being on 57 minutes, after Young Africans sprung the Amakhosi offside trap and Dube broke clear to set up Clement Mzize with a straightforward finish to make it 3-0.
Ki added his second, and Yanga’s fourth in the 62nd minute, taking advantage of an under-hit Zwane back pass to intercept the ball and beat Petersen from close range.
A raft of substitutions late on saw the game lose its shape and no further goalmouth action ensued, leaving the final score at 4-0.
While the margin of the defeat will be hard to digest, a number of positives can be taken from the performance. Mfundo Vilakazi continues to show that he belongs at this level, and young Mbuthu, aside from his costly error, looked assured and confident after being drafted in at short notice due to an injury crisis.
Coach Nabi will have learned a lot from this match and will identify areas where improvement is definitely needed, However, he will be pleased by some of the early indications that his players are taking to his instructions. With the season beginning in earnest in mid-September, Nabi has time to implement his vision and the team is likely to be far better prepared for competitive action by then.
In a curtain raiser that brought back nostalgic memories, Kaizer Chiefs Legends emerged victorious over Bloemfontein Celtic Legends, 2-1. David Radebe gave Amakhosi a halftime lead and Siyabonga Nomvethe doubled the advantage from the penalty spot in the second half, after Thuso Phala was brought down in the box. Celtic pulled back a consolation goal from a penalty of their own but Chiefs saw out the game to the delight of the crowd packed into the stadium.
SOURCED FROM THE CLUB’S WEBSITE.
