Zwane looks to pamper Amakhosi boss with victory

As Kaizer Chiefs will be celebrating their 53rd birthday tomorrow, coach Arthur Zwane wants nothing less than a win to commemorate this special day when they host Sekhukhune United in a league tie at FNB Stadium (8pm). 

“This is one game that will obviously mean a lot to me, to the players, to our chairman, to our supporters...to everyone who’s part and parcel of the club, for the fact that it is going to be played on the club’s birthday,” Zwane said during the team’s media open-day at their Naturena base yesterday.

Chiefs were founded in Phefeni, Soweto, on January 7, 1970 by Kaizer Motaung. Zwane has a burning desire to give the club’s founder, Motaung, something to smile about tomorrow night.

“It’s important for us to give our chairman [Motaung] and our forefathers the birthday present and that present should be three points,” Zwane added.

Chiefs are going into this tie high in morale after managing a 2-0 win over Golden Arrows on New Year’s eve. Such morale seems to have made Zwane believe they are in the title race, disagreeing with Swallows coach Ernst Middendorp’s view that leaders Mamelodi Sundowns have already clinched the title.

“There’s still 16 games to play and I will concur with Sundowns coach, Rulani, who said the league has never been won in January. Our focus right now is on looking at ourselves and see where we can improve. As much as we are trying to kill two birds with one stone, we need to know what we need to achieve first...we will take one game at a time,” Zwane stated.

“We hope to grind the results from the remaining games and be up there with the chasing pack. You look at SuperSport, they are doing well and there’s Richards Bay as well, so it won’t be an easy one but I believe it will go down to the wire.”