Kaizer Chiefs assistant coach Khalil Ben Youssef has declared that, as a new technical team led by head coach Nasreddine Nabi, they must take the club back to continental football, acknowledging the importance of winning the Nedbank Cup to achieve that.
Chiefs host Gauteng ABC Motsepe League side Free Agents in the first round of the Nedbank Cup at FNB Stadium on Sunday (6pm).
● Free Agents were formed in 2018 and are based in Eersterust, Pretoria
● To reach the Nedbank Cup round of 32, they beat Gauteng ABC Motsepe League sides African All Stars (2-1), Gomora (2-1), Wits University (1-0) and Highlands Park (on penalties) in the preliminary rounds
● Free Agents are 11th on the Gauteng ABC Motsepe League
table, with 19 points, 23 behind leaders Highlands after 17 games
— Free Agents
Winning the Ke Yona Cup guarantees you a spot in the CAF Confederation Cup, hence Ben Youssef says they target the competition as a ticket to returning to continental football in case they fail to finish in the top three in the Betway Premiership.
“When we discussed our project with the board, we said we must build our team that will fight the next year or two, three years we have to fight for the league. Second, we have to return to CAF tournaments. When I was younger, I remember I used to watch Chiefs in African cups, always playing finals and semifinals, and they were one of the best teams in Africa,'' Ben Youssef said at a press conference in Sandton yesterday.
“If you want to play in Africa, you have two choices; one, you have to finish in the top three or win this cup. As a big team, we know that we should win every competition we play, hence we will do our best to win the Nedbank Cup.”
The Tunisian, who'll be managing Chiefs' dugout on Sunday as Nabi is suspended, thanked their analysts for getting about 70% of information on Free Agents. “It was difficult for them to get a lot of information about Free Agents but they did well. We saw our last three games and we know that in their last five, they won two, drew two, losing one. We don't have more information about this team but I can say we managed to get 60 or 70% of the information we wanted about them,'' he said.
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