Chiefs’ Petersen – ‘I know what I am about’

Kaizer Chiefs captain and goalkeeper Brandon Petersen says he refuses to be defined by the criticism that comes with being the man between the poles for Amakhosi.

Chiefs’ Petersen comes under fire

Petersen has come in for plenty of flak this season, after some unconvincing displays for his side. He returned from injury, however, to keep a clean sheet in Chiefs’ 3-0 Carling Black Label Knockout victory over TS Galaxy in midweek.

And now ‘Beeza’ is set to lead Chiefs out on Saturday when they take on Orlando Pirates in a Betway Premiership Soweto derby at FNB Stadium.

“I think the most important thing is to know that those words and negative stuff going around doesn’t define me,” said Petersen this week.

“As a football and as a person I am much more than that. The second thing for me is to know my worth. It is important to know who you are and what you stand for. When you do that nothing else happening around you can buckle you or be an obstacle in the road.

“I know what I am about and what I am able to produce. I focus always on improving and giving a good display of myself.”

Another man who has come under fierce criticism of late is Chiefs head coach Fernando Da Cruz. After Chiefs’ exit from the Caf Confederation Cup, Amakhosi sporting director Kaizer Motaung Jnr was even moved to release a statement unequivocally backing the Frenchman and his staff.

‘Noise is noise’

“Noise is noise,” said Petersen on the criticism of Da Cruz.

“There is not much you can do, people who want to speak will speak and everyone is entitled to their opinion. The noise also comes from people wanting results.

“When you are at Chiefs results are important, but the journey is also important. If you look at where we are and the type of football we want to play there has been a lot of improvement. The only thing lacking has been converting chances.

“If you look at games where we dropped points (Chiefs have five Premiership draws in eight matches this season) if we had converted half the chances we created we would be talking a different story. For us it is to focus on what we are doing.

“The game model the coach has set up for us is phenomenal, the guys have adapted very well. He is a good coach who handles the team very well and the team dynamics. It is not easy at Chiefs, the demand is always there. But credit to him and the technical team for handling the pressure well, for not transferring it to us.”