Kaizer Chiefs head coach Nasreddine Nabi has dedicated the Nedbank Cup title to the club’s fan base and the chairman, and also explained why he took Thabo Cele out.
Gaston Sirino converted a first half penalty while captain Yusuf Maart scored the winner in the 2-1 victory over arch rivals Orlando Pirates in the final in Durban on Saturday. This is the side’s first trophy in a decade and Nabi’s first in his debut season in charge.
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Having been brought in to rebuild following a campaign where Amakhosi finished outside the top 8, Nabi has endured some indifferent results in the league where the side is currently fighting to finish in the top half. However he has delivered a trophy and couldn’t be happier as he also pleaded with the fans to be patient in the rebuilding process.
“Firstly I’m very happy for the fans and I’m happy for the chairman and all the members of the family,” said Nabi on SuperSport TV.
“I’m very happy for them but for myself it’s the process first. The process needs to continue.
“After the equaliser of Orlando Pirates we felt that we were losing our organisation which gave the opportunity to the opponent to take control of the game. It was a little bit better in the second half but we believe that people didn’t understand why we took out [Thabo] Cele.
“But he is someone that has been struggling with injuries the last few weeks and he was tired and we believe that the changes that we made with Ox [Sibongiseni Mthethwa], Ashley [Du Preez] and [Mduduzi] Shabalala gave more balance to the team and to give us more confidence to go forward and to score the second goal.
“I’m on a process and I’m sending a message to the fans to please help me to continue to build the respect of the team.”
