Kaizer Chiefs are hell-bent on defending their Nedbank Cup, with the side’s co-coach Khalil Ben Youssef vowing they’ll go all out to do that.
Amakhosi’s title defence begins with Stellenbosch in the competition’s last 32 at Cape Town Stadium tonight (7pm).
“This Nedbank Cup game against Stellenbosch is a crucial game for us because it’s one of our targets to keep our trophy, so we will do all we can to achieve that,” Ben Youssef said.
Heading into this Ke Yona fixture, Amakhosi are high in confidence, having won all four fixtures they played in the new year; against Golden Arrows and Marumo Gallants (in the Betway Premiership), and twice against Zesco United of Zambia in the CAF Confederation Cup.
However, the Glamour Boys haven’t been really convincing, winning all these four matches by 1-0 scorelines.
This recent pattern of winning by a single goal leaves questions about Chiefs’ attack, with some suggesting the coaches are focusing too much on defending − a claim Ben Youssef vehemently dismissed.
“If were focusing more on our defensive work, we wouldn’t be dominating games like we do, and we wouldn’t be creating chances like we do. We focus on both aspects of the game... we don’t only think defensively,” said the Chiefs co-coach, who steers the ship with Cedric Kaze.
“In our first meeting with the players we emphasised to [them] that scoring goals allows you to win games and keeping clean sheets gives you confidence.”
Stellenbosch eliminated Chiefs from the Carling Knockout, beating them 5-4 on penalties in October last year. Even so, Kaze emphasised that revenge wasn’t in their minds as he recounted how they dominated the game on the day.
“It is true that Stellenbosch eliminated us in the Carling Cup. That’s the beauty of these knockout games because you can talk about [the fact] that after that game, we were the better team on the field and controlled the whole game, and had many opportunities to score, but unfortunately we lost on penalties,” he said.
“That is the beauty of the game. When you play little, you can expect big rewards. But there is no revenge in football.”
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