A year ago Serge Djiehoua was feeling depressed and his general mood was not a happy one as he battled his way back from an injury that kept him on the sidelines for most of last season. This season things did not start out too well for him as his battle to get back to full fitness continued, then along came the new Premier Soccer reserve league which kicked off in February and Djiehoua’s fortunes took a turn for the best.

Serge began to play regular competitive football with the reserves and gained both the match practise and confidence he lacked. More importantly though Djiehoua has been able to find goals a plenty and with a lot of ease for the reserves, which in turn has allowed for him to find his way back into the Kaizer Chiefs first team. Djiehoua continued his come back in fine style this weekend, when he got Chiefs' goal during their 1-1 draw with archrivals Pirates. The friendly and always approachable Djiehoua took time out on Thursday to talk to kaizerchiefs.com and spoke of his renewed enthusiasm and his hopes for next season.

KC.COM: Serge you got yourself into the history books on Saturday by scoring in your first official Soweto derby. Explain to us the feeling as well the joy of getting a goal against Pirates?




SD: The first thing that I would like to say is that I am eternally grateful to the coach and my team mates, firstly to the coach for having the confidence in me and giving me the opportunity to have started the game. To my team mates for really stepping up to the plate and playing really well, I thought that our performance against Pirates was a good team effort. Getting the goal meant a lot to me, as I had never scored at this level against Pirates before. Hearing that huge roar once the ball had passed Francis Chansa and hit the net will stay with me for ever. A game against Pirates means a lot to the fans and to give them something to cheer about makes me really happy.

KC.COM: How did your family in the Ivory Coast react upon hearing of the fact that you had scored against Pirates?




SD: My brother reads the Kaizer Chiefs website regularly and also they do have DSTV in the Ivory Coast, so they are able to watch some of my games. Straight after the game I got a number of calls from family members congratulating me on scoring during the game as well as just talking to me about the match in general. It was particularly emotional for me when I got to call my father as he had been by my side through my long injury lay off. He was overjoyed that I have been able to come out of that injury and have started playing for the first team again. My girlfriend who lives in Paris was ecstatic and I got messages on my phone that she text to me during the game, I am thankful that I have had a support structure which has got me to where I am?

KC.COM: Do you feel that the fact that playing for the reserve team has assisted you on the comeback trail?




SD: Most definitely playing in those matches basically got me back into shape, and it also got my confidence going and I was playing in the reserves with junior players and other guys who were in similar positions to me. Every guy in the reserves is looking to impress the coach so that he can find himself in the first team, the younger guys are highly motivated and have a great desire to be successful and that translated in helping me lift my game as well as the reason behind the fact that the reserve team are heading the league table.

KC.COM: Some might say that lady luck smiled on you; if the team had not been besot by injuries you probably might not have played in the game?




SD: Sometimes in life you need a bit of luck and after the misfortune of last seasons injury it was good to have a turn around if fortune, that only got me a place in the starting line up if you wish to go down that line of thinking. The real issue is that once I got onto the field I still needed to prove that I deserve to be there, thankfully with the assistance of my team mates I was able to grab the opportunity with two hands as I was able to get onto the score sheet. Getting the chance to play is the first part making the most of it is more important; all I can say is that I am waiting for my next opportunity.

KC.COM: Now that you have found your feet again, are you looking forward to next season and are you optimistic that in the new season you will be able to get more goals. Also that the team in general will enjoy more success then they did this season?




SD: I am an optimist and have always been, I do believe that to be positive about something the environment around you and the situation that you find yourself in needs to be conducive to such occurrences. Maybe things did not start out greatly for me this past season but they are ending off well, and I am confident that I can start off next season brightly and begin by getting a couple of goals in the opening few games which will set the tone for the rest of the season for me. As a team we all know that we could have done more than we did this season, I can confidently say from talking to the guys that we will be stronger next season and are more determined to be successful on all fronts then ever before.