Kaizer Chiefs mentor Nasreddine Nabi feels their Saturday's eagerly anticipated league tie against perennial champions Mamelodi Sundowns came too early for Amakhosi, highlighting he'd have fancied more time to prepare.
Chiefs head into what promises to be a titanic clash versus Sundowns at FNB Stadium (3pm) high in confidence after winning two successive opening league fixtures for the first time in five years.
“I would have liked to get more time to work tactically and strategically because the specifics of AmaZulu aren't the same as Sundowns'. If you prepare your game at a professional level, you need time,'' Nabi said after beating AmaZulu 3-1 in what was a sold-out affair at Moses Mabhida Stadium Wednesday night.
“Maybe my tactics for today will be different for the Sundowns game, but I need time for practice on the field. Sundowns are one of the greatest teams in Africa... we prefer to play Sundowns with more time to prepare.”
“Tomorrow [today] we will fly to Johannesburg after that we have a day before the game... I don't have time to prepare very well tactically but this isn't an excuse we will go 200%. We are playing at home and we are Kaizer Chiefs... we will go all out 200% but we respect Sundowns.”
Ranga Chivaviro, Gaston Sirino and Inacio Miguel were on target as Chiefs were already cruising 3-0 at halftime before they regressed tremendously in the second half, allowing AmaZulu to dominate them hands down. Etiosa Ighodaro netted for Usuthu two minutes into the second half. Nabi's men had beaten Marumo Gallants 2-1 in their league opener at Free State Stadium 11 days earlier.
On why they somewhat became so flat in the second half after a dominant first stanza, the Chiefs coach said: “I don't think it's a physical aspect [that made them drop]. We played at such a high level in the first half and it's normal to have a second half like that after having a good first half. We have one of the best physical trainers in Africa [in Safi Majdi],'' Nabi explained.
Nabi says he wished he had more time to prepare before Downs' clash
Image: Darren Stewart
Kaizer Chiefs mentor Nasreddine Nabi feels their Saturday's eagerly anticipated league tie against perennial champions Mamelodi Sundowns came too early for Amakhosi, highlighting he'd have fancied more time to prepare.
Chiefs head into what promises to be a titanic clash versus Sundowns at FNB Stadium (3pm) high in confidence after winning two successive opening league fixtures for the first time in five years.
“I would have liked to get more time to work tactically and strategically because the specifics of AmaZulu aren't the same as Sundowns'. If you prepare your game at a professional level, you need time,'' Nabi said after beating AmaZulu 3-1 in what was a sold-out affair at Moses Mabhida Stadium Wednesday night.
“Maybe my tactics for today will be different for the Sundowns game, but I need time for practice on the field. Sundowns are one of the greatest teams in Africa... we prefer to play Sundowns with more time to prepare.”
“Tomorrow [today] we will fly to Johannesburg after that we have a day before the game... I don't have time to prepare very well tactically but this isn't an excuse we will go 200%. We are playing at home and we are Kaizer Chiefs... we will go all out 200% but we respect Sundowns.”
Ranga Chivaviro, Gaston Sirino and Inacio Miguel were on target as Chiefs were already cruising 3-0 at halftime before they regressed tremendously in the second half, allowing AmaZulu to dominate them hands down. Etiosa Ighodaro netted for Usuthu two minutes into the second half. Nabi's men had beaten Marumo Gallants 2-1 in their league opener at Free State Stadium 11 days earlier.
On why they somewhat became so flat in the second half after a dominant first stanza, the Chiefs coach said: “I don't think it's a physical aspect [that made them drop]. We played at such a high level in the first half and it's normal to have a second half like that after having a good first half. We have one of the best physical trainers in Africa [in Safi Majdi],'' Nabi explained.
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