Posted in News, Team News on Jul 12, 2025.
Kaizer Chiefs' second pre-season friendly against Dutch Eredivise (Premiership) side FC Utrecht was in the first half a highly competitive match.
"It was 50-50," admitted FC Utrecht coach Ron Jans afterwards. Click to Watch full match
Chiefs got three proper goalscoring opportunities in the first 45 minutes, but they were not taken. Instead, the home team netted from a free-kick, one of their rare chances in the first half.
Unlike the first training match against Vitesse on Tuesday, the encounter versus FC Utrecht took place behind closed doors, with no spectators allowed.
Coach Nasreddine Nabi started in the first half with the following XI - Petersen, Monyane, Miguel (c), McCarthy, Shinga, Lilepo, Mthethwa, Cele, Ngcobo, Shabalala, Da Silva.
Captain Inácio Miguel was outstanding in defence, while, like in the first friendly, Mduduzi Shabalala created danger whenever attacking.
Thabo Cele, meanwhile, kept control in midfield and delivered a fine performance.
A keen spectator at the game was Alje Schut, the Dutch defender who played for Mamelodi Sundowns between 2012 and 2015. He's presently FC Utrecht's head of scouting.
"The two central defenders really performed well," he commented, while analysing the first half performance.
"Chiefs played well-organised football. However, soccer is also about small details and that's, for example, how the first goal was conceded. The players will learn from those kind of moments."
Coach Nabi decided to continue with the same XI until the 60th minute. By then, the scoreline was 0-3.
To be fair, FC Utrecht are much further into their pre-season than Amakhosi, as the Dutch club has a crucial UEFA Europa Cup qualifier coming up in 13 days time.
From the 60th minute the XI was as follows - Bvuma, Solomons, Kwinika, McCarthy, Frosler, Sirino, Zwane, Matlou, Chislett, Mmodi, Hlongwane.
This side conceded one more goal.
"It was a really tough encounter," confessed Aden McCarthy, who played the full 90 minutes. It is not for nothing that FC Utrecht finished in fourth position on the log standings in Holland.
"It was interesting to see how they processed this match and how they approached it, especially when they pressurised us", continued McCarthy who formed a good combination in defence with Miguel. "We understand each other very well. We often don't even need to communicate with one another to know what needs to be done."
FC Utrecht-coach Jans was impressed with the first half performance of Amakhosi's Nkosingiphile Ngcobo.
Schut, meanwhile, rated Gáston Sirino's performance in the last 30 minutes. "That's a fine player."
"I hate losing," George Matlou reacted after the match. "However, these are highly competitive games and that's how you get better as a team. You don't get better playing weaker teams.
"Besides that, we are getting to know each other. We are improving on when to press, where to press, how to press. Those are all elements that are important to work on during pre-season in preparation for when the league starts.
"For sure, we are Kaizer Chiefs, we never want to lose. However, we are building up a strong side to compete, not only in South Africa, but also in the CAF Confederation Cup on the African continent.
"And, yes, we all know, it's pre-season. So winning is maybe not the most important issue at this stage. On the other hand, our next fixture is already on Saturday. We definitely want to win that one."
Chiefs' next pre-season will be against NEC Nijmegen on Saturday, 12 July. Kick-off is set for 14:00.
The game against NEC will take place on the main field of Dutch amateur side Overasseltse Boys at Sportpark de Passelêgt in Overasselt.
For soccer fans, including South Africans living in Holland or elsewhere in Europe, who would like to attend this Kaizer Chiefs' training game, tickets can be bought online: https://tickets.nec-nijmegen.nl/dashboard - and then click on 'OEFEN' (on the Dutch language side) or 'FRIENDLY MATCHES' (English language).
The entrance fee will cost 7.50 Euro per person for online tickets, while they will be 10 Euro when bought at Sportpark de Passelêgt.
The Sportpark will be open from 13:00.
Both matches will be live streamed on YouTube, @KaizerChiefsFootballClub
The live streams will start about 15 minutes before kick-off.
