The Kaizer Chiefs u-17 team guided by Ryder Mofokeng opened up their campaign in the 2006 Mondialito u-17 tournament in Spain with a credible hard fought 2-2 draw against Spanish participants Valencia.

Villarobbledo about 90 km away from Albecete where the team are based was the setting for the game, which did not start off well for The young Amakhosi as they went behind early on in the game.

A defensive mix between the goalkeeper and his defence allowed the Spaniards a chance at goal which they made the most of and went a goal ahead, it took The Amakhosi a while to adapt to the conditions and once they did they began working their way back into the game.

Chiefs dominance of a spell midway through the first half saw them draw level as Xolani Mlungwana struck to restore parity, early on in the second half and Chiefs stunned the opposition when Kabelo Makoko scored a well worked goal to give The Amakhosi the lead.

Leading 2-1 Chiefs had the opportunity to make certain of the three points when they had the chance to go

3-1 up, some hesitancy by the Chiefs strikers in the box allowed for the Valencia defence to clear their lines and the chance went a begging.

As the game neared its end Valencia began pressing for an equalizer and it came in bizarre circumstances as the Chiefs goalkeeper rose to punch a ball clear from a cross, his clearance fell onto an opposition players shoulder and was deflected into the back of the net.

Having come through what was expected to be their toughest group game with a point to show for their efforts, the young Amakhosi will begin preparing for their remaining two group games which they will be expecting to win in order to progress on in the tournament.

They will have a rest day on Saturday before rounding off their group games, firstly on Sunday evening when they take on Mexican Team PUMAS Unam and will complete their group games on Monday against Portuguese team Benfica.