Following Kaizer Chiefs’ 4-0 dismantling of SuperSport United in the first round of the Carling Black Label Knockout Cup in Polokwane on Saturday evening, 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 also 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.”

He emphasised the players’ desire to honour the man who created the most prestigious footballing institution in South Africa.

“We all know that this week was the 80^th birthday of our Chairman, Dr. Motaung and we wanted to offer a good performance to him because he has sacrificed a lot for this Club,” said Coach Nabi, “The players were very focused, and even in critical moments, we stayed in the game and were able to produce our best moments.”

The form of the younger players in the side is especially encouraging and bodes well for the future. Samkelo Zwane was imperious at the base of midfield and the creative exuberance of Mduduzi Shabalala, Wandile Duba and Mfundo Vilakazi has been a breath of fresh air in the team.

“Zwane has grown a lot since we have been working with him over the past few months. He has improved his concentration and tactical awareness a lot. He is still young and games like this are important for his development. It is not just him; the same goes for the likes of Shabalala, Vilakazi and Duba,” Coach Nabi said, “These players represent a capital investment for the Club. These youngsters come out of our academy and we need to show our young players that there is a path to the first team if they prove themselves. We believe they still have a lot of margin to progress. I don’t think we have seen the best of them yet.”

The coach was seen in conversation with Ranga Chivaviro after the striker scored Amakhosi’s third goal, having failed to convert some earlier chances that led to fans calling for his substitution.

“The responsibility of a coach is to protect the players, especially when they go through some difficult moments. We can’t have emotional reactions like the fans; that’s why we didn’t want to replace him when he missed those chances. I told him to keep his focus and he will score. He was very happy that the trust the team put in him paid off,” the coach explained.

Coach Nabi concluded by making special mention of the tremendous support for Amakhosi at the Peter Mokaba stadium. “I am pleased the fans have been happy with the results so far but I believe we are very far from what we want to build because we are in a period of transition and it will take time. However, even while we are building we still need to get results to keep going forward.

“We still anticipate some difficult moments but we know our strategy for how we want the team to be and we are moving in the right direction. It means a lot to have the supporters behind us; it has a very positive impact,” he said.