Kaizer Chiefs assistant coach Khalil Ben Youssef heaped praise on George Matlou who has returned to fitness with aplomb for the club.
It was an emotional scene for the 26-year-old midfielder whose career at Chiefs has been blighted by injuries since they lured him to the club from Moroka Swallows.
Prior to that, the Bidvest Wits academy graduate had a stint in Portugal with Sanjoanense and was part of the junior national team set-up.
But he’s yet to be able to show his true potential in the South African top-flight. But having now recovered from a long-term knee injury, his 90-minute showing in the 4-0 win over Free Agents in the Nedbank Cup brought him to tears of emotion.
“Honestly for Matlou, I have to say thank you to our fitness coach Majdi, from the first day, when he was here, we talked about the history of George Matlou, his injuries, everything and he worked a lot with him,” Ben Youssef said after the game.
“Now I can say that George Matlou is 100% ready for the team, he started the last game and played 60 minutes, like he said, taking it step by step, first game 10 minutes, 60 minutes and now he’s made 90 minutes.
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“We are so proud of him and even in the game he was so good. Tactically he is a very smart player, and I hope he will help us this season.”
Matlou has featured 28 times for Amakhosi with one assist to his name.