Billiat’s hoping for season-long party
Sibongiseni Gumbi
Kaizer Chiefs star Khama Billiat wants the celebrations that took place in the team’s base in Naturena for the club’s chairman and founder Kaizer Motaung’s 75th birthday on Wednesday to continue throughout the season as he feels they owe their boss trophies.
Amakhosi have had the longest dry spell ever experienced by the club, which turned 49 earlier this year, as they last hoisted an official trophy during Stuart Baxter’s era some four years ago.
But, having missed out of the MTN8 following their failure to get a spot in the competition due to their embarrassing ninth place finish last season, Chiefs now have a chance to make amends as they begin their Telkom Knockout campaign away to Cape Town City tomorrow afternoon.
Billiat sees the match as a chance to keep the celebrations going by winning it and making their boss happy. “He has to finish this week happy,” said the nimble-footed Zimbabwean international.
Billiat said there is a feeling within the team that their time has come and they will win something this season. The Glamour Boys have started their Absa Premiership campaign with aplomb, climbing to the top after collecting 19 points in their first eight games.
“I feel like we are getting closer to winning something,” he said. “But we have to work for it. It will just come like that. Everyone needs to think the same way. We look like we are getting to understand what we need to do this time around,” he said.
But City will want to spoil things for Amakhosi and end their dominance as Ernst Middendorp’s side have beaten the Citizens in their last two games. City coach Benni McCarthy said they took lessons from their last game against Amakhosi which should help them tomorrow afternoon.
“We took positives from the last game we played against them even though the scoreline didn’t favour us (City lost 2-1). Based on the way we applied ourselves in that game, I think we have nothing to fear,” he said. He said his players need to show their mettle and not allow Chiefs to boss them around.
“Our players… we’ve got a lot to make right. So this game comes also at a good time to test ourselves that we are special. Let’s hope we can go out there and put up a performance that people will appreciate, not only the good football we play but this time we don’t want to come out second best,” said the former Bafana Bafana striker.
Molefi Ntseki wore a splendid African print shirt on his debut as Bafana Bafana head coach on Saturday at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. And his Bafana Bafana team also gave a standout performance as they beat Mali 2-1 to win the Nelosn Mandela Challenge. Yes, it was just a friendly, and a far greater test awaits next month, in back-to-back 2021 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Ghana and Sudan. But Bafana showed enough here to suggest they will not be adversely affected by the departure of Stuart Baxter, with Ntseki even giving a hint that his Bafana will play with far more attacking intent than Baxter’s often soporific side.
This weekend’s Shell-Helix Cup was effectively an irrelevant mid-season friendly, yet another money-making exercise for teams that really don’t need the money. That aside, Mamelodi Sundowns’ first-half capitulation, going 4-0 down to a rejuvenated Kaizer Chiefs at the FNB Stadium was startling, and a long way from what Pitso Mosimane had planned, even if he did field a severely weakened team. As Mosimane pointed out, even Sundowns’ reserves are top-class players and the victory for Chiefs could work slightly in their advantage for the Absa Premiership clash at the end of this month. It is only slightly, however, and Sundowns are far more likely to beat Chiefs and restore the regular order.
“It’s a very unfortunate situation ... against Libya (in an Afcon 2019 qualifier), Keagan Dolly got injured in our last training session before the game and ... he was actually crying and then we sent him back to his club and we had to prepare for the Afcon and he asked to play in the Cosafa Cup. But he couldn’t make it because he got injured again. So it has been very difficult for Keagan Dolly, he is very strong mentally ... today he started, buzzing, doing very well for the team but he got a knock and had to be pulled off ... I really felt bad for him.” – Bafana head coach Molefi Ntseki expresses his sympathy for Keagan Dolly, who picked yet another injury in Bafana’s win over Mali on Saturday.