Kaizer Chiefs started their 2024/25 Premier Soccer League season with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Marumo Gallants at the Free State Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein.
The Glamour Boys Academy graduates Mduduzi Shabalala and Mfundo Vilakazi scored for their club to cancel Sekela Sithole's early strike. What impressed the fans was how the Soweto giants fought to get maximum points.
Amakhosi had ended the 2023/24 season in an embarrassing 10th position, and it was vital to show they have the mental strength to bounce back.
Chiefs mindset has changed
Former Glamour Boys attacker Junior Khanye has now lauded coach Nasreddine Nabi for helping shape the players' mentality and attitude in a short time.
“The mind-set of Kaizer Chiefs players has changed; That I have noticed. Their mind-set has changed the team is working which means the whole team is coming to the party. Even if they make a mistake, everybody works for one another. You want to have coachable players,” he told iDiski Times.
“If you checked when Mfundo Vilakazi came on you might have thought he’s there to do a trick to get the fans going but he came on and played basic football, good passes and how he was in that position [goal scoring] that needs coaching.
“The boy is talented he just needed proper coaching. So, credit to Nabi for coaching some players. Credit to Kaizer Chiefs, the mind-set of the players to respond the way they did to win the game considering that Marumo Gallants scored first.”
What is the next target for Kaizer Chiefs?
On Saturday, new signings Fiacre Ntwari, Inacio Miguel, Rushwin Dortley, Bradley Cross, and Bradley Cross started against Gallants.
They had a positive impact with Sirino providing an assist in his debut. Nabi was happy with what he saw and is keen on adding firepower to the attacking department. Tanga Chivaviro was guilty of missing some good chances meaning he can't be fully relied on in the new campaign.
The transfer window is closing on Friday, and ahead of their second league game against AmaZulu, Nabi is hopeful to get a quality and ruthless striker.
