Kaizer Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp and his counterpart from FC Moscow Leonid Sluitski speaking at a press conference in Johannesburg on Thursday morning both promised an explosive match when Chiefs take on the Russians Saturday evening at the FNB Stadium.

FC Moscow fresh from a two-match tour of Dubai where they took on Ukrainian powerhouses Shaktar Donetsk and Dynamo Kiev, are looking to use the game against the Amakhosi to lay the groundwork for their new season, which begins in March.

Coach Sluitski explains further; "coming to South Africa means a lot to our preparation for the up coming season, we will be playing teams from a host of different countries with various styles in the next few months of our pre season. We have also never played against African opposition before so we will get the chance to come up against African flair and players and some highly tricky and skilful players."

Kaizer Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp is looking forward to his charges getting some game time against top quality opposition with the PSL in recess.

"It is good for us because we have been training for twelve days already and we now get the chance to play a game. We will be a bit rusty because of the break, it will be good for our players to play against a team that is different to what we usually play against in the PSL, we need to perform well on Saturday because this is the kind of opposition you play in the African Champions league which we will hopefully be competing in, in two seasons time,” added Middendorp.

The Russians have also indicated that they have identified a number of players from Chiefs that have impressed their scouts who have been to South Africa on a number of occasions recently. Coach Sluitski has said that he will use the match as an opportunity to scout for players as scout and unearthing new talent is part of FC Moscow’s plan on a daily basis to recruit players from around the world.

The FC Moscow coach when questioned as to how knowledgeable he was on Chiefs or whether the Amakhosi were a closed book to him, was quick to answer and said; “I have Stanton on my side, he has given me a lot of useful insight into Chiefs which has really made my preparation for the game easy."

Kaizer Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp though is not fazed by the Russians in depth knowledge of Chiefs saying; "I have before played games against teams like Lokomotiv Rostov and CSKA Moscow who are currently the Russian champions so I am aware of the basic style of Russian teams. From what I know about FC Moscow they have many big strong players especially at the back and they play a very physical game, we will be ready for them and are not fazed by the challenge."

FC Moscow coach Sluitski closed the press conference by adding that although the Russian national team did not qualify for the world cup in 2006, FC Moscow’s trip to Johannesburg is the start of the construction phase of the road that will see the Russian national team come to South Africa to participate in the 2010 World Cup.

Tickets for the game are on sale at Computicket nationwide and the Amakhosi Store, which is located in the Johannesburg CBD at the corner of Rissik and Main Street. Ticket Prices have stayed at R 20 as they are for all Chiefs home matches in the PSL, kick off for the game is at 20h00 this Saturday the 21st January and the game will take place at the FNB Stadium.