Kaizer Chiefs take a short trip to the Emirates Airline Park (formerly known as Ellis Park) this coming Saturday, for their penultimate clash of the DStv Premiership season against Sekhukhune United.
Chiefs still have a lot to play for as they are still within reach of a second-place finish and secure a place at the Caf Champions League or at least a third-place finish to secure a Caf Confederations Cup spot.
Amakhosi’s fate is no longer in their hands as both Cape Town City and Royal AM have intensified a fight for the top three positions.
But one man who is looking forward to a return to Ellis Park is Chiefs defender Ramahlwe Mphahlele, who made his professional debut at the venue 15 years ago while he was still doing grade 10.
“I have a lot of fond memories of Ellis Park. That’s where I made my first debut against Orlando Pirates, and I was still at high school, and I was still a kid, so it’s a very special place for me,” he told the club’s media team.
“I was playing for Swallows, and it was a night game. We won that game 1-0. I remember it very well, so it’s a special place for me and obviously with the Ellis Park tragedy that happened. Whenever we go there as a club, there are memories. So, I am personally excited to go there.”
On facing Sekhukhune United, who are 10th on the log, Mphahlele insists their main aim is to finish the season on a high note.
“They have a very experienced team, a very tough team. They play at a very high pace, so we have to be strong physically. We have to run more than them. We know that we will be playing away from home, and they are going to put us under pressure. Obviously, they have the likes of (Willard) Katsande, who knows the club very well. He is going to probably give them inside information, but we are confident that we can go there and get the results.
“We just want to finish the season on a good note. We know we have had lots of ups and downs as a team, and for the past two games, we have managed to pick up the levels and we were promising, so we just want to finish the season on a high note and win our remaining games, and we can see what happens after that. It’s been a long season, so there is not really much we just want to finish on a high.”
