Chiefs’ Da Cruz thanks Motaung Jnr for show of faith

Kaizer Chiefs head coach Fernando Da Cruz has thanked the club’s Sporting Director Kaizer Motaung Jnr for his show of support after Amakhosi were knocked out of the Caf Confederation Cup.

Chiefs bounce back

Chiefs bounced back from Friday’s penalty shootout loss to Zambia’s Red Arrows when they beat TS Galaxy 3-0 on Tuesday in the last 16 of the Carling Black Label Knockout.

The result was a boost for Chiefs ahead of Saturday’s Betway Premiership Soweto derby, where they will hope to topple Abdeslam Ouaddou’s in-form Orlando Pirates.

The pressure had ramped up on Da Cruz after their Confederation Cup exit, with Motaung Jnr deciding to release a statement on Saturday unequivocally backing the Frenchman.

Sometimes these ‘votes of confidence’ can be ominous for a head coach, but it seems that Motaung Jnr and his coaching team are on the same page.

“I would like to thank the sporting director (Motaung Jnr) and the board for the statement from the club,” said Da Cruz, after Wandile Duba’s second half hat-trick had seen Chiefs past a poor TS Galaxy.

“You must know that we are very clear inside the club. Every three weeks or month we have a meeting with the sporting director to speak about the team and the project.

“The confidence he has given us for our daily work is very important, even if we win, lose or drawl. Every time you need to analyse the situation very well. In our meetings we always speak about improving the team.

‘Today I am not a better coach than I was last week’

“Today (after the Carling Knockout win) I am not a better coach than I was last week, because we were eliminated from CAF. The board is there and the sporting director is there every day to see the commitment of the …. Coach with all the technical staff.

“When we analyse the situation we can say we were unlucky (before) because with all the draws we made, some we deserved to win.

“And in terms of injured players we have been unlucky. We had a lot of injured players with contact injuries.”

Chiefs are unbeaten in this season’s Premiership but have drawn five of the eight games they have played.

This weekend’s derby at FNB Stadium is Pirates ‘home’ game. The equivalent fixture last season was a 1-1 draw, with Pule Mmodi giving Chiefs the lead, but Kamogelo Sebelebele equalising for Pirates.