Posted in News on Jan 29, 2007.
Fabian injured his calf in a league game against Silver Stars on the 10th January. As a result of the injury McCarthy who has worn the captain’s armband for The Amakhosi on a number of occasions this season, had to sit out Chiefs’ games against Benoni Premier United, Jomo Cosmos and this past weekends win over Ajax Cape Town.
McCarthy looked to be in good shape during training on Monday morning as he worked tirelessly to demonstrate to coach Middendorp that he is ready to fight for his place in the team to take on defending PSL Champions Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday afternoon.
Speaking to kaizerchiefs.com after training on Monday McCarthy who spoke of his return to full training activities added, “I felt that everything went well in this mornings training session I managed to do all the activities with no pain or discomfort.”
McCarthy further added, “from my past experiences I can safely say that when one returns from an injury the first training session is probably the most crucial towards allowing you to determine how well the recovery process went.
“Thankfully for me things went well on Monday, I do believe that the medical team took proper corrective measures by allowing me to have extra time to recover, so that when I did return I would be fully fit”.
With his recovery complete Fabian has now set his sights on The Amakhosi’s meeting this weekend with Mamelodi Sundowns. “I am back to full fitness just at the right time, the team has made it to the top of the PSL table and we have an important game against Sundowns this weekend.”
The Chiefs stand in skipper is convinced by the fact that the winning team on Saturday could well land up as the 2006-2007 PSL Champions saying “we are well aware that the lift in morale and in confidence that could come with a win over Sundowns will be able to lift our spirits for our remaining league games and could carry us through to eventually winning the league championships”.
McCarthy in his statement also made further reference to a meeting between Chiefs and the Brazilians in February 2005, when The Amakhosi defeated Sundowns in a seven-goal thriller, which Chiefs won 4-3.
During that game on the 19th February 2005 Chiefs were reduced to ten men late in the first half, and amazingly played through the entire second forty-five minutes with a man short and scored two goals on their way towards eventually winning the game. McCarthy states that victory over Sundowns played a major part in Chiefs title march in 2004-2005, as that win was the catalyst behind spurring on the team to win the league that season.
“Sundowns have assembled possibly one of the best teams in the league this season, this was the case when we defeated them in that 4-3 win in 2004-2005 to be able to win against the best teams. Allows a team demonstrate to itself that it can achieve a lot and just the euphoria and motivation that a team gets from winning such a game is unbelievable, it is also nice to win such games for the fans. So that when they go to work on Monday morning they can do so with a smile on their face, and they have bragging rights over their colleagues who support the opposition”.
With Chiefs injury crisis quickly coming to an end Ernst Middendorp will be hoping to have Siphiwe Mkhonza in training alongside McCarthy within the next day or so, so as to open up his options heading towards Saturday’s all important game. It is not just his options on the field that the Chiefs coach would be looking to throw wide open, he will also be aiming to put some distance between The Amakhosi and the defending PSL Champions by Sundown time on Saturday evening.
