Kaizer Chiefs co-coach Cedric Kaze has measured the quality of their players to withstand the more demanding CAF Confederation Cup group stage, where they will take on opponents he described as “serious clients.”
The Soweto giants beat AS Simba 3-1 in the Second Preliminary Round, second leg at Dobsonville Stadium on Sunday, storming into the group phase. After the first leg ended goalless away in Lubumbashi, Chiefs picked themselves to dump their Congolese visitors out of the Confederation Cup.
Also reaching this stage of the continental competition are heavyweights Wydad Casablanca, Zamalek SC, Khanyisa Mayo’s parent club CR Belouizdad and 2023 champions USM Alger.
Kaze knows what awaits them in the draw to be conducted on November 3 in Johannesburg. With Chiefs facing the possibility of being in the same group with some seasoned campaigners, Amakhosi coach Kaze believes they have enough experience to match any team.
In their squad, Chiefs have Lebohang Maboe and Gaston Sirino, who have CAF Champions League experience from their Mamelodi Sundowns days. Midfielder Nkosingiphile Ngcobo started for Amakhosi in the 2020/21 Champions League final against Ahly.
“I believe every player will have a part to play in this season, not only for CAF games, but the league and Nedbank Cup because we need everyone to do their part,” said Kaze.
“There are experienced players that have played continental games, as we mentioned, Maboe, Sirino, Mshini, [Inacio] Miguel, Zitha [Kwinika], a lot of them. Everyone is going to be very important because you cannot go through if you don’t have a very good group, and we hope everyone is going to contribute to that.
“I was checking the teams that are in the CAF Confederation Cup [group stage], and it’s serious clients. There are Zamalek, Wydad, and Belouizdad —such good teams —and we are happy to go there and compete.
“As you said, it’s true that those kinds of games add experience to the players and also add belief to players that they can make things happen.”
HAVE CHIEFS TURNED THE CORNER WITH SIMBA VICTORY?
The win over AS Simba ended a three-match winless run by Chiefs, who were also struggling to score goals.
“I’m very optimistic because we know what we have to do, we know that in a game of football, you need to score goals when you create so many opportunities,” added Kaze.
“We are going to build on the momentum from this performance because it wasn’t only about the goals, but the performance was quite good as well. It’s up to us now to reinforce that and keep the momentum alive.”
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