Rowen Fernandez came through his first assignment as captain for The Amakhosi, with distinction as he kept a clean sheet as well as lead by example and kept out a Nathan Paulse penalty after seventy minutes.

When Chiefs and Ajax played to a goalless draw in Kimberley over the weekend, Fernandez now has the task of possibly leading The Amakhosi into battle against his former team Bidvest Wits University on Wednesday evening. It was at Wits where Fernandez began plying his trade in a professional environment and played more than sixty times for the clever boys, before joining Chiefs in 2001.

Kaizerchiefs.com managed to tie down the Chiefs net minder and got a few questions in prior to him heading for training on Monday afternoon.

KC.COM: Rowen it has been a while since you left Wits and joined Chiefs, does playing against Wits still in give you goose bumps. Taking into account the fact that it was with the clever boys that you began life as a professional soccer player?


RF: It might be five years but I still do find games against them to be special ones, because of the fact that they were in the Mvela League Last season, I did not get to face them. So that makes this game even more special and one that I would like to really win.

KC.COM: Commercially Wits are a different team than they were when you were a player there, has the fact that they have new investors made them are stronger team?




RF: I think so if you look at the kind of team they have been able to assemble it shows that they have used the new resources to their advantage. In the old days Wits always had the problem of not being able to hold onto their prize possession because they did not have the money to pay them competitive salaries.

All that has now changed and with the investment from Bidvest they have been able to build a strong team by buying a number of top quality players, which in the long term is good for the league because it has created another strong team.

KC.COM: You were promoted to captain recently, while you received this promotion Cyril Nzama has been placed on the substitutes bench, what are your thoughts on that?


RF: I see my captaincy as a temporary one I do not see it as being a permanent feature sooner or later I do feel Cyril will be back to take over the mantle. In football every one even the best of players has a bad day and as a team we have to gather round and help each other, not just Cyril but any player who is going through a bad patch.

Cyril is a good leader and a wonderful captain and if we count ourselves as his teammates then we will have to gather round and help him pull through. The thing is as team mates we have to rally around each other at all times, Cyril is a professional player and I know he will bounce back and get his form back soon.

KC.COM: For now you are the captain though and how did you find the outing on Sunday afternoon?


RF: On the field of play every one is a captain and must in his own way lead the team some how or the other, it is my responsibility to keep the shape on the field and ensure that we all work together towards achieving the correct result. Against Ajax I really had the co-operation of all the guys and it was not much of a problem, it was not a tough game, which made things easier for me.

KC.COM: What about the penalty save you made during the game?




RF: As a captain you need to lead by example and one of the things is that when you the chips are down one needs to be able to rise up, thank fully that’s what I was able to do on Sunday. Not just as a captain but also as the goalkeeper, my job is to make sure nothing goes into the back of the net and that is what I did and believe me it felt really good.

KC.COM: This week is a big week for Chiefs, first there is the game against Wits and there after the SAA Supa8 semi final against Moroka Swallows. Will victory against Wits make it easier to win on Sunday against Swallows?




RF: A good result on Wednesday could be easily complemented with a win on Sunday; I do feel once we win our first league game, which will be against Wits, everything will fall into place.

A win against Wits will raise our confidence and motivate us ahead of what can only be described as an important semifinal in Durban against Swallows on Sunday. We want to win the SAA Supa8 trophy because winning silverware so early in the season will in itself as an injector and push us towards bringing home more titles.