Township Rollers (0) 1
(Rakhale 80’)

Kaizer Chiefs (0) 0

National Stadium, Gaborone,Botswana

Kaizer Chiefs were beaten 1-0 by Township Rollers in a pre-season friendly at the National Stadium in Gaborone, Botswana on Saturday afternoon.

South African-born forward, Thabo Rakhale, scored the game’s solitary goal 10 minutes from full time, to settle an entertaining encounter played in front of a capacity crowd bathed in bright African sunshine.

The result flattered the hosts somewhat as Amakhosi looked neat and sharp in the early stages and created several half-chances throughout the first half, which finished goalless.

As often happens in pre-season friendlies, both coaches rung the changes in the second half and by the end of the match the teams were almost completely different from those that kicked off.

The match showed glimpses of some really exciting potential in the Amakhosi side as some of the fledgling combinations started to take shape., and the throngs of Amakhosi Faithful who had represented in impressive numbers, went home happy.

Speaking directly after the final whistle, Coach Molefi Ntseki’s assessment of the match was, “You can see we are on the right track. The starting XI was mainly players that came on last week so I gave all players minutes. We did okay but we have some things to work on. I wasn’t happy with the goal we conceded, but we’ll work on these things during the week in order to be ready to start the season.”

“I would also like to thank the supporters who came in numbers. It was really great to play in front of so many of our fans. It helps the players mentally and we appreciate the support,” he concluded.

Kaizer Chiefs take on Chippa United in the opening fixture of the 2023/24 DStv Premiership season at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Durban, 6 August, kicking off at 15:00.

Tickets are available online at Ticketpro, at R60.