Durban City COACH, Khalil Ben Youssef, has named his players from Kaizer Chiefs in a long-distance battle in the Caf Confederation Cup.
Khalil was hired by City a few weeks ago to replace Pitso Dladla, who won the Nedbank Cup and joined Lamontville Golden Arrows. This Tunisian coach who was sacked by Chiefs who was training in collaboration with Cedric Kaze from Burundi, has the ability to put City on another level. He sat on the bench for the first time when they played in the KZN Premier’s Cup where they were eliminated by Milford FC last weekend.
At City, Ben Youssef works with the players he trained at Naturena, namely Gaston Sirino and Tashreeq Morris. There is also Bandile Shandu from Orlando Pirates who played for City, still called Maritzburg United.
“The story of Morris and Sirino has nothing to do with the fact that I know them. We need players with experience. We knew that we are playing the Caf Confederation Cup, we need to have at least three or four players who have played this tournament before to help the youngsters to understand it. That is why we brought Sirino, Morris and Shandu to help the team with experience,” said Ben Youssef.
City will open the Betway Premiership season by facing Sekhukhune United at Makhulong Stadium, on Saturday afternoon. This game will feature Ben Youssef and Kaze who were trusted with tactics to bring back the happy days to Chiefs.
After exiting the KZN Premier’s Cup, Ben Youssef said he was happy with his team.
“The most important thing for us is the way the team plays. This is a good challenge that will show us where we are lacking as a team before playing with Sukhukhune United next week in the league game. I think we are happy with the team but we still need at least two or three players to help the team to be sure of it. Next season we will play many competitions, we will play five. We need many players to exchange them,” said Ben Youssef.
Betway Premiership fixtures:
Saturday:
Orlando Pirates v Milford FC (Orlando Amstel Arena, 3.30pm); Stellenbosch v AmaZulu (Parow Park, 3.30pm); Golden Arrows v Chippa United (Princess Magogo Stadium, 3.30pm); Sekhukhune United v Durban City (Makhulong Stadium, 3.30pm); Mamelodi Sundowns v Marumo Gallants (Loftus Versfeld Stadium, 6pm); Kruger United v Kaizer Chiefs (Mbombela Stadium, 8:15pm)
Sunday:
Richards Bay v Polokwane City (Mhlathuze Sports Complex, 3.30pm); Siwelele FC v TS Galaxy (Toyota Stadium, 6pm)