Moloi’s Chippa chase hat-trick of big scalps

JOHANNESBURG: Teboho Moloi is wary of getting too cocky too soon in such a short time as interim head coach of a PSL team – the critics are always watching. But the Chippa United caretaker coach, unbeaten in the eight matches he’s been in charge of since September, has now set his sights on slaying Kaizer Chiefs when the two sides meet at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Sunday’s Telkom Knockout quarter-final.

Buoyed by solid victories over teams that were superior by some distance last season in Cape Town City, Mamelodi Sundowns and Wits in less than two weeks, Moloi wants to carry this momentum into the coming Fifa international break.

This means the Chilli Boys will have to dump Chiefs out of the Cup.

“I didn’t change the team that played on Sunday against Sundowns for our game against Wits because I didn’t want the players to think the Cup game this weekend is more important,” Moloi said.

“For us it is about being con- sistent, and for that to happen we need to treat every game the same way. Our win against Sundowns was no child’s play. That was a high intensity game that took a lot out of us and we knew that we would be out of energy in our next game. You have to work extremely hard to beat Sundowns in 90 minutes. I didn’t want to refresh the team before the game (on Wednesday) in case I sent the wrong message that we are focusing on the Chiefs match.”

He believes a win against Chiefs will complete the circle in as far as their preparation to play in continental tournaments is concerned. Moloi has previously spoken of his ambition to lead Chippa into the Caf Confederation Cup.

“I think by beating the African champions (Sundowns) and the SA champions (Wits) in one week maybe we proved we can be consistent enough and we are perhaps ready to play in that space,” Moloi explained.

Moloi, who played for Orlando Pirates, used the term “Cup kings” to describe Chiefs.

“It won’t be easy,” he said. “Everyone tells us they are Cup specialists, so we have to prepare thoroughly for them.”