Staff Reporter.
Kaizer Chiefs caretaker coach Arthur Zwane has praised his side after they held out for a 1-0 aggregate victory over Wydad Casablanca to claim a place in the final of the CAF Champions League.
Chiefs will face Pitso Mosimane’s Al Ahly in the decider in Morocco, and will once again be heavy under-dogs, but Zwane and the technical team will hope they can show the same resilience against the Egyptians having faced a barrage of Wydad attacks in both legs of their semifinal.
“It was never going to be an easy journey for us, we knew it was going to be tough to compete against the best teams in Africa,” Zwane said. “Wydad are a very good team, one of the best on the continent no doubt. They are good in defence and good going forward, but they also have their weaknesses.
“We knew if you go pound for pound against them and give them enough space, they will punish you. What was key for us was to get to the final, that’s what we were working for.
“It’s always been our dream, even when I was a player, to win this trophy for the Chairman [Kaizer Motaung].”
Zwane also had praise for goalkeeper Daniel Akpeyi, who was thrust into action after the hero from their first leg, Bruce Bavuma, was placed in Covid-19 isolation after being a close contact of an infected person.
“We knew if we can contain them until after 25 minutes, they will get frustrated and throw a lot of bodies forward and leave spaces for us. And we had chances we could have converted.
“But we had to control ourselves and manage ourselves properly. We know we did not create enough goalscoring chances and that our energy levels would drop. But the fact we did not concede a goal was good enough for us to reach the final.”
They will contest the July 17 final at Wydad’s Stade Mohamed V home ground.