Following Kaizer Chiefs’ 4-0 dismantling of SuperSport United in the first round of the Carling Black Label Knockout Cup in Polokwane on Saturday, head coach, Nasreddine Nabi, expressed his satisfaction with what was a good night’s work from the Glamour Boys.
The scoreline reflected Amakhosi’s superiority, yet Coach Nabi made a point of mentioning his goalkeeper for keeping things tight and keeping a clean sheet.
“It was a very good victory. Generally, it was a good performance from everyone on the pitch, although we must also credit Fiacre (Ntwari) for making some important saves to prevent our opponent from getting back into the game. In those critical moments, he made the saves we needed,” the Tunisian said after the match ended.
The coach praised Uruguayan midfielder, Gaston Sirino, whose goal and assist proved pivotal to Amakhosi’s triumph.
“It is true that Sirino helped us today, and we thank him. He is still not at maximum physical fitness because he is just coming back from injury and hasn’t trained a lot in recent days, but even so, he showed character and the skill to make the difference,” he said, adding, “You can be sure that when he is at full fitness we will see more of Sirino. What is important is that the younger players can learn from him.”
While Coach Nabi was well satisfied with how his team performed in the match, he emphasised the importance of getting positive results, particularly in cup competitions, telling the media, “Over the 90 minutes we had a very good performance.
“At times we allowed our opponents to get on the front foot but in a cup game, the result is more important than the performance. You just have to win. The mental character shown by the players tonight was at a very high level.”
