Posted in News on Aug 13, 2007.
Chiefs played and won their first game on the 10th August during the inaugural year of the PSL the Amakhosi began their life in the PSL with a win over Jomo Cosmos thanks to a goal from Thabang Lebese, who completed a kind of a unique personal hat trick when he scored after six minutes against Dynamos on the 2nd August 1998.
To once again give Chiefs a 1-0 opening day win in what was the first game of the 1998 – 199 season. His goal against Dynamos during the first game of the 1998 – 1999 season, was preceded exactly a year before that when he opened Chiefs account as Chiefs drew 3-3 against African Wanderers as the 1997 – 1998 season got underway, which was his second goal in consecutive opening games . With three goals in the first game of the 96-97, 97-98, 98-99 gave the former Chiefs midfielder his place in the history books, as the only Chiefs player to date to have scored the first goal of in three consecutive PSL seasons for The Amakhosi.
In total Chiefs have since the start of the PSL in 1996 played in eleven opening games and have lost just one, against SuperSport United some five seasons ago now on the 11th September 2002 a game which marked the start of the 2002 – 2003 campaign. With a near perfect record during their first game in the PSL hope once again springs eternal for the Glamour Boys who will began their hunt for a third Premiership crown, away to Benoni Premier United on Wednesday evening in Germiston.
Chiefs coach Muhsin Ertugral is looking to turn around Chiefs fortune from last season and believes that he has the team needed to achieve the desired results, with a youthful squad containing a lot of experienced players Ertugral will be looking towards opening up the season with a bang and a net full of goals.
Past Success
The Chiefs coach will be hoping that his team will be able to emulate the club's previous best results during their first game of a PSL season which they achieved on two occasions, the first being when The Amakhosi hosted Amazulu on the 31st July 1999 at the Johannesburg Stadium. Ertugral who was still awaiting his work permit was not on the bench for this game, which saw Chiefs off to the perfect start for the 1999 – 2000 season. There was a goal on debut for Jabu Pule as he opened the scoring as Chiefs ran riot winning the game 4-1, Chiefs had to wait until the start of their title winning season in 2004-2005 when once again the won by an emphatic 4-1 score line.
In August 2004 Collins Mbesuma scored a hat trick, the only Chiefs player in the history of the PSL to achieve such a feat during the first game of a PSL season. The good fortune from scoring on the opening day continued all season long for the Zambian who ended the campaign as the leagues top scorer. With all the hard work being done since the 25th July when Chiefs got their pre-season preparations under way, scoring two or more goals on Wednesday is possible for Chiefs who will be aiming to set up the ground work for the rest of the campaign with a win on Wednesday.
Surprise in Store
While Ertugral has just over forty eight hours for his team to get their 2007 – 2008 campaign off and running, he is pleased by the progress made by his squad as a whole and is further more buoyed by the fact that a number of players are displaying some fine form.
The Turkish born Ertugral now in his second stint with The Amakhosi, believes that many people will be surprised when Chiefs take to the field on Wednesday evening.
Ertugral said “I am the kind of coach who believes in giving younger players an opportunity to shine, this season won’t be any different and a lot of our younger players will feature strongly over the course of the next few months. It will come as surprise too many to see that we will be fielding so many young players, I do believe that we have the right formula for success with the abundance of young talent we have at our disposal”.
Ertugral who saw the Chiefs u-19 team win the bronze medal at the SuperSport youth tournament over the weekend, was impressed by a number of the players in the u-19’s, and he has stated that he could bring a few of them up to the first team in the months to come.
The Chiefs head man was quick to point out that it will not just be in the form of on field personal where Chiefs could have a different look and feel, as he continued on “when I took over in June I knew that a lot would be expected of me during my second term. Firstly we had to get the team into shape physically and mentally for the new season, once we had achieved that, we began to work on technical and tactical aspects of our game. Expect different things from Chiefs this season our aim is to win the league by playing exciting and attractive football which will ensure that we keep on getting the correct results, and as a result ensure that we play to full stadiums every game”.
Kaizer Chiefs opening day Results since the start of the PSL in 1996 – 1997
1996 – 1997
10th August 1996
Jomo Cosmos 0 Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Lebese)
1997-1998
2nd August 1997
African Wanderers 3 Kaizer Chiefs 3 (Lebese 28’, Tshisevhe 47’, Williams 90’)
1998 – 1999
2nd August 1998
Dynamos 0 Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Lebese 6’)
1999-2000
31st July 1999
Kaizer Chiefs 4 (Pule 30’, Nomvete 47’, Mooki 58’, Makua 62’) Amazulu 1
2000 – 2001
9th 2000
Bloemfontein Celtic 0 Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Mnguni 90)
2001 – 2002
8th August 2001
Wits University 0 Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Macamo 25’)
2002 – 2003
11 September 2002
Kaizer Chiefs 1(Mooki 60’) Supersport United 2
2003 – 2004
24th August 2003
Kaizer Chiefs 2 (Moshoeu 45’, Mayo 46’) Mamelodi Sundowns 0
2004 – 2005
7th August 2004
Dynamos 1 Kaizer Chiefs 4 (Mbesuma 11’,54’,75’, Mabedi 82’)
2005 – 2006
6th August 2005
Bush Bucks 0 Kaizer Chiefs 1 (Chalwe 72’)
2006 – 2007
27th August 2006
SuperSport United 2 Kaizer Chiefs 2 (Mathebula 51’, Motaung 86)
