Kaizer Chiefs and their English Premier League opponents for Saturday’s Vodacom Challenge opener Tottenham Hotspur both held training sessions late in the morning on Friday after arriving in Durban on Thursday. Spurs arrived early in the morning followed by Chiefs who touched down later on Thursday.

After a day of travelling it was back to business for Chiefs coach Muhsin Ertugral and his Tottenham Hotspurs counterpart Martin Jol as both coaches took their teams through a rigorous midmorning training session in hot and humid conditions in Durban.

While Chiefs trained on a field adjacent to the ABSA Stadium, Spurs tore up the turf at the nearby Kingsmead Cricket Stadium. With Saturday’s game nearing, both sets of coaches were in no mood to waste any time even if it meant that their players had to training in sweltering conditions.

Chiefs coach Muhsin Ertugral is looking to once again use Saturday’s game to work out on a number of combinations, and will be looking towards a number of his experienced players to carry the Amakhosi through on Saturday. The Amakhosi players themselves have responded positively to the challenge laid down by their coach and are ready to take on the Premiership giants. One of the Chiefs players who believes that the Amakhosi can give Spurs the run around on Saturday is midfield kingpin David Obua.

No fear

A confident Obua, speaking at a press briefing on Friday morning, was really up beat about Chiefs' chances of a victory on Saturday.

“Over the past year, a number of the guys in this team with Chiefs and with various national teams, have played against some of the best players in the world. A year ago we played against Manchester United and I think we held our own in the two matches when we came up against them, so I do feel that we have the necessary credential to make a game of it against Tottenham”.

Obua, who recently played the game of his life for the Ugandan national team when they caused a major upset by defeating the Super Eagles of Nigeria in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifying game, believes that the key to victory on Saturday will be for Chiefs not to be overawed by the occasion.

“I have found playing against the bigger teams that if you do not let their reputation as a force get to you, you have every chance of defeating them. All we need to do is be confident play our normal game because we are at home, we know the conditions in Durban all too well and most importantly we will have the crowd on our side all of these factors will work in our favour”.

The tall Chiefs man who had to miss out on the opportunity of a life time when he was forced to withdraw from the African XI who took on a World XI in an exhibition match recently in Cape Town (as part of the birthday celebrations for former South African president Nelson Mandela) because of a recurring injury, is aiming to be part of the Chiefs team on Saturday as they hope to create another upset just as they did in last year's Vodacom Challenge when he said “with all due respect to Tottenham we want to win on Saturday, as well as on Thursday and next Saturday as we have every intention of holding onto the Vodacom Challenge Trophy”.

Zokora ready for a fight

There was much the same kind of fighting talk from the Spurs camp with their dynamic Ivory Coast international defender Didier Zokora leading the attack. Although he enjoys the hospitality in South Africa, Zokora is only interested in leading his team to victory on Saturday.

“I have come to South Africa on a number of occasions before with the Ivory Coast national teams. Every time I have been here we have been well looked after and I really enjoy coming to South Africa and our object is to win all our games during this tour”.

Not even a decade-long friendship he shares with a player on the Chiefs team will distract Zokora from wanting to win on Saturday.

When questioned about his close ties with Amakhosi striker Serge Djiehoua Zokora said, “Serge is a friend of mine we have played together before and I believe that he is a very talented player, I am looking forward to playing against him on Saturday. Like I said previously we are here to win and after the game Serge and I will catch up on old times and spend some time socializing that will be after the game”.

With the game just over 24 hours away, it is likely that the teams will be playing before a packed ABSA Stadium on Saturday, with the organizers announcing that all the R35 and R65 tickets for the game have been sold out and just a handful of tickets in the R100 price category remain.

Chiefs will round off their preparations for Saturday’s game with a final training session at the ABSA Stadium in Durban late Friday afternoon and once The Amakhosi have completed their training, Spurs will be on the field at the ABSA Stadium to round off their preparations for Saturday’s game.