After many didn’t give Kaizer Chiefs a chance in the CAF Champions League and got surprised, Al Ahly coach Pitso Mosimane has vowed to show them the respect they deserve when they meet in the final on July 17 in Morocco.
Chiefs continued to rewrite their history as they reached their first Champions League final after Saturday's 0-0 draw with Wydad Casablanca in the semifinal at FNB Stadium, having won the first leg 1-0.
The Red Devils thumped Esperance 3-0 in the other semifinal late on Saturday (4-0 on aggregate) to set up a date with Amakhosi.
The Glamour Boys will head into the final as underdogs with nothing to lose, which could work to their advantage again.
And Mosimane knows the danger of taking them for granted now as he feels the fact they didn’t concede at home in all the matches in the competition shows how good they have been.
“We have to pay attention to details. But [they are] a very strong team in terms of organisation,” Mosimane told the media in a press conference after their game against Esperance.
“They don’t give away the goals easily. They have not conceded a goal in their stadium [FNB], so it is that kind of a team that they don’t score a lot, but they can defeat you.
“They beat Simba SC 4-0, so you have to respect them. We didn’t even score four goals against Simba. But Simba scored three goals against them [in the return leg of their quarterfinal clash].
“I can easily talk about Mamelodi Sundowns or Orlando Pirates but Kaizer Chiefs, I can’t speak about them. I don’t know what’s coming.”
Meanwhile, Chiefs interim coach Arthur Zwane said Wydad paid the price of taking them lightly after they sent their B team for their group stage match at FNB Stadium.
The two-time African champions sent a second-string side to Johannesburg in April after already qualifying for the knockout stages while Chiefs were on the brink of elimination.
That victory paved the way for Amakhosi to qualify for the knockout stages.
“I think it is more like learning, especially even for us, that when you are on a roll, you don’t take anyone for granted. We were going to be the underdogs. We were not good enough to compete against them,” Zwane told the media after their game.
“And they paid the price because I think had they sent their best team that time, maybe things would have been different.
“But unfortunately for them, because they took us for granted at that time we gave them something to think about and we surprised them.”
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