Posted in News on Oct 11, 2006.
As he helped guide the national team to their first ever victory over the Zambians outside of South Africa, now the Chiefs net minder is aiming to cap a memorable week with another win on Saturday.
The Chiefs keeper, who has now gone 335 minutes without conceding a goal for the national team is looking ahead with bated breath to Saturday’s meeting with Sundowns - returning victorious from the FNB Stadium on Saturday evening is the only thing on his mind at the moment.
Rowen who was with four other Chiefs players in the Bafana Bafana squad over the weekend believes that overcoming the huge psychological demons that littered the national teams path to victory on Sunday has better prepared the Chiefs players for Saturday’s game.
“Going to Zambia and winning the game was not easy. There were many things against us, I feel that the way the national team conducted themselves over there in doing a professional job and coming away with a win was a really massive achievement,” said Fernandez.
He continued further by saying “from a Chiefs point of view, it was obviously a moral booster for myself, Siyabonga Nkosi and Cyril Nzama to have played the full ninety minutes. As well as having contributed to the win has really given us a major lift.”
Fernandez also says that the confidence gained by Chiefs players who were with the national team on the weekend will most definitely have a positive spin off on the rest of his Amakhosi team mates.
“Since we have come back, all the guys in the team have been asking us about the game, especially as to how we managed to pull off such a remarkable result against Zambia. The important thing is that we went into that game with a lot of self-confidence and a positive attitude, with the spirit and camaraderie amongst the guys ahead of the Sundowns game we are going the same route the national team did prior to the Zambia encounter. I do feel that we're on the right path in coming back with the right kind of result. The good spirit shows that we trust and believe in each other and that the team is brimming with confidence”.
With Chiefs having won their last two games on the trot, Rowen feels that victory number three will have a two-fold benefit for The Amakhosi, “we won two tough games against Arrows and Swallows; we need to make it number three against Sundowns simply because it will get our title aspirations in line again. As well as sending out a message to SuperSport that we are ready to wrestle with them next Saturday in the final of the SAA Supa8.”
Rowen, commenting further on Saturday’s game, says that the team will do all it can to ensure that there is no repeat of last season’s result, when Chiefs took the lead against Sundowns but eventually ended up losing the game.
“I do feel that we learnt a lesson from last seasons game against Sundowns, we need to make our dominance count by making sure we finish off our early chances. One of our faults previously was that we allowed them to come back into the game, we paid our school fees and know that we need to be water tight at the back and kill off the opposition as soon as we have sight of goal”, Fernandez added.
As the game against the Champions nears, Rowen is confident that Chiefs will be fully prepared for the threat possessed by the likes of Moriri, Dlaldla, Sheppard, Sapula et al.
The battle for control of the midfield will, in Rowens opinion, go a long way towards deciding who will be the dominating force on Saturday, as the Chiefs net minder feels the experience of Thabo Mooki, the tenacity of Tinashe Nengomasha, the class of Siyabonga Nkosi and the panache of David Obua will swing the pendulum in Chiefs favour.
Added with the possibility of David Mathebula, Arthur Zwane or Gert Schalkwyk thrown in to the mix Chiefs do have the ingredients to cook up a storm on Saturday.
