It was the sparkling football that he played with Stars as he helped them win the 2006 Telkom Knockout Cup that helped him grab the attention of the more glamorous teams in the league.

Along the way in the Telkom Knockout Cup he managed to land the killer blows which put paid to Chiefs, when The Amakhosi met Stars in the ¼ Finals of last years Telkom Knock Out Cup.

It was his performance against Chiefs that eventually saw him become a Chiefs player earlier this year, and on Sunday Phala gets to meet up with his old Stars team mates in Rustenburg. This time though the PSL Jet Club 2006 – 2007 Rookie of the year nominee, will be decked out in the Gold and Black of Chiefs and will be aiming to do for Chiefs what he did for Stars last season.

Outshine old Friends

It was with Stars where Phala made a name for himself and he is aiming to keep his name in lights with a shining performance against his former team, saying “there is no better opportunity for me to get my game up then with a strong showing against Stars. They will be trying to keep me from playing my usual game and I will use my insight over my old club mates”.

Da Gama Effect

Phala believes that the current technical changes at Stars might not destabilize the team as it has been said after Owen Da Gama left, but the tough talking coach's football philosophy is deeply imbedded in Stars.

“Owen Da Gama is the kind of coach who might be physically gone from Stars but believe me his effect on the team is still being felt, tactically and technically his effects are still on the team”.

The Chiefs midfielder went on to further add “we cannot be complacent and expect to do well on Sunday just because their coach has changed, the guys in our team do realize that we won’t necessarily win the game because Da Gama has left we will win because we have put in the effort and know that we must win on Sunday”.

Wisdom of Solomon

Although Thuso has parted ways with Stars, he remains close friends with former team mate Solomon Mathe, and has endured a lot of banter over the past couple of days from Mathe around the weekend's clash. Phala though is not bothered by Mathe’s jibes and is instead leaving all his talking for the game on Sunday, said Phala “Solomon Mathe and I meet up almost every day and obviously the conversation for the past couple of days has surrounded on Sunday's game. He believes that he is going to teach me a lesson on Sunday, I will let him believe that he will have to wait for the weekend to see me doing my talking”.