Three talented youngsters, Naledi Hlongwane, Thulani Mabaso and Kabelo Nkgwesa, joined the Kaizer Chiefs squad for their pre-season training camp in the Netherlands.

They were all part of Kaizer Chiefs' reserve team squad that brilliantly won the DStv Diski Challenge U-23 league last season.

The youngsters impressed whether starting or coming on as substitutes for Amakhosi during the five pre-season friendly matches.

Hlongwane even scored the sole goal in Chiefs' emphatic win over Dutch Eredivisie (Premiership) side PEC Zwolle.

The 20-year-old striker joined Amakhosi's Youth Development Academy in 2019, going on to play for the Under-15s.

Midfielder Mabaso arrived a year earlier, also having his first outings wearing the Gold & Black jersey for the U-15s. He's now 21 years old.

Nkgwesa, meanwhile, only came to the Academy in 2023, playing for the reserve side. The 20-year-old is a versatile player, who is at home in the following positions: left-back, left-wing or centre-back. However, he was mostly used as a left-back whenever coming on as a substitute during the friendlies played in Holland.

They all loved the environment of Apeldoorn, the Dutch city where the Chiefs squad was based for their pre-season training camp.

"It was amazing to see all the local people on their bicycles," Mabaso observes, before adding, with a smile on his face. "It keeps the Dutch people healthy." All three enjoyed riding a bicycle themselves. "It was fun."

The Glamour Boys played a total of five friendlies. "The standard of the opponents was really high," Mabaso comments. "Those games may look easy on TV, but they weren't easy at all."

Nkgwesa adds on the Dutch opponents: "I was impressed with how they move as a collective and they often use their full-back as a winger. I tried to adjust to all of that. The standard of play of the Dutch teams is very high."

"Their defenders are very tall," Hlongwane points out. "We had to be careful not to get into physical battles with them, as they would win that. Instead, we adapted and learnt to see space and use that to our advantage. That was a great learning experience."

Hlongwane also explains how coach Nasreddine Nabi is a tough mentor, often getting right into the face of the players, especially at training. "However, it's all about tough love," the striker explains, "the coach does that because he wants us to become better, therefore continuously pushing us and being on our case."

The Chiefs coach sat down with the three youngsters during the camp to explain to them, using video-clips, how the first team plays. "He wanted us to understand that," Mabaso says, "as the coach wants us to be in tune with the rest of the squad."

Nabi told the trio: "You have to learn from the outside, also when sitting on the bench - how we operate as a team, how the players move. So that you know exactly what to do during the game when I bring you on as a substitute or when getting an opportunity to start."

The youngsters all had their role models while growing up. For Hlongwane that was, obviously, a striker: Collins Mbesuma.

Mabaso's favourite was Teko Modise. "Partly, because he's also from Meadowlands, like me."

Nkgwesa, meanwhile, opts for former Bafana Bafana left-back Thabo Matlaba.

The three young players all know each other well. "Naledi is a real Glamour Boy," Mabaso remarks. "He loves his clothes."

"Kabelo is a funny guy," Mabaso says about the left-back, "always joking around, even in the dressing room."

"Thulani is a good person," Ngkwesa says, "you won't struggle around him, as he's always willing to help. When, for example, in the past, I needed money for transport, Thulani would always assist."

In between the training sessions and the games, the youngsters rested a lot. However, they also played some table tennis on the second floor of the hotel.

"Obviously, I was the best," Mabaso stresses. The others look at him with a wry smile on their face, before Nkgwesa interrupts to correct: "It's Naledi!"

Mabaso came on about 20 minutes before the referee's final whistle in the match against NEC Nijmegen, delivering a telling performance and upping the tempo of Chiefs' way of playing.

Coach Nabi told the midfielder before entering the field as a substitute: "The NEC-players look tired, that's why they now play a low-block. So, press them high up the pitch and use your individual brilliance to create something."

Earlier, Mabaso had been sitting on the bench, closely analysing the opponent. "I was looking where the spaces were and I used that when I came on," he explains.

The youngsters are all eagerly looking forward to the Toyota Cup next weekend, with the Glamour Boys hosting Ghana's Asante Kotoko at Durban's Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday, 26 July.

Mabaso comments: "I was talking to Thabo Cele and he explained to me, 'the pre-season games are over. Now we need to win!'

"The mentality must be different. We all want to win that game, because if we win, we make our people happy - the family, the fans... I feel we are ready. We want to bring back the glory days of Kaizer Chiefs."

The trio can't wait for the new season to start, also looking forward to playing in the continental competition, when the CAF Confederation Cup starts.

"We want to go all out this season," Hlongwane concludes. "It's a new opportunity to do well, in the league, the cups, the Confederation Cup. Ask all the players, we really want to challenge for a top three position.