Kaizer Chiefs head coach Fernando da Cruz praised the mentality of his squad after Amakhosi held African champions Mamelodi Sundowns to a 1-1 draw at FNB Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Chiefs took the lead through Langelihle Phili in the second half before Cassius Mailula restored parity for Sundowns, with the two sides ultimately sharing the spoils.
The result extended Chiefs’ unbeaten start to the league campaign and, more importantly for Da Cruz, came at the end of a demanding period in which his side played three matches in just six days.
“We drew against a big team like Sundowns, we produced a good game, and I’d like to congratulate our squad of players, it was our third game in six days and their mindset was amazing,” Da Cruz said.
The Chiefs coach was particularly pleased with the contribution of players who had not been regular starters, with Thabo Moloisane handed his debut and Pule Mmodi also coming into the starting XI.
“I had two players who’s not had much minutes in the XI, Thabo Moloisane and Pule Mmodi and they had really good games, so I’m very happy about the mindset of the squad.”
Despite Sundowns enjoying more possession, Da Cruz felt Chiefs were competitive throughout the encounter and believed his side created the clearer opportunities, particularly after the interval.
“Sundowns were in a good positions, we defended more than them, we would have liked to have more of the ball and for me, if we look at the game, we had the bigger chances than Sundowns, even if we didn’t have the ball, in the second half we had two or three big chances to score.”
Da Cruz went on to echo the sentiments of Miguel Cardoso’s praise of the level of the game and stated Amakhosi reached the ‘Champions League’ level against the African champions at the Calabash.
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