Komphela hails resilient Free State Stars
Kaizer Chiefs head coach Steve Komphela has praised Free State Stars following his team’s 1-0 win at Goble Park Stadium on Wednesday night.
Steve Komphela, former coach of Kaizer Chiefs (Gerhard Duraan/BackpagePix)
The game looked set to end in a goalless until Teenage Hadebe scored with a header deep into referee’s optional time.
“I would not be doing justice if I were not to compliment Free State Stars for the fight they put, they’re a hard nut to crack,” Komphela told SuperSport TV after the game.
READ: Chiefs leave it late to down Stars
Komphela reserved special praise for Stars goalkeeper Badra Ali Sangare, who was named Man of the Match.
“The goalkeeper did a splendid job. I thought Itu [Itumeleng Khune] as well under conditions, you expect goalkeepers to always be there. It was a game of concentration.
“Although, the first half we failed to take advantage of the fact that we were playing Moon and Castro against Mahamutsa and Keita. We could have been more practical. Conditions like these … you can’t complicate your game, you have to keep it simple, which I thought we failed.
“One of our desires is to see our people enjoy football. A little bit of it showed today [Wednesday] but there were great saves by the goalkeeper. I thought the goalkeeper did very well. There was one [save] from [Leonardo] Castro. There was about two saves… the one from [Bernard] Parker. Compliment to him, no wonder he was given Man of the Match.”
With five games to go before the end of the season, Chiefs are mathematically still in the race and Komphela says they’ll fight until the end.
“You can’t give up, and knowing that you can have people who can kill games, whenever there’s a set-play, there’s hope.
“I thought Pule [Hendrick Ekstein] got into those small spaces and created a couple chances, we just need to take them.”
