Kaizer Chiefs are planning a memorable 60th birthday present for their chairperson, Kaizer Motaung, in the form of a convincing victory over Bush Bucks at the FNB Stadium on Saturday.
Club communications and public-relations manager Putco Mafani said their preparations for the game are at an advanced stage, adding that Imbabala will be torn to pieces.
”We cannot afford to drop any points seeing that we will be five games behind the two other pace-setters, Mamelodi Sundowns and Moroka Swallows, already by the time we play on Saturday.
”We are itching for the league action and the good thing is that all our international players performed well over the past weekend for their respective countries during the World Cup qualifiers.”
Striker Collins Mbesuma was Chiefs’ best player at the weekend after scoring a hat-trick when Zambia pipped Congo 3-2 in Brazzaville to enhance their chances of qualifying for the 2006 World Cup finals.
Chiefs will also be motivated by the fact that they successfully defended the annual Macufe Cup after beating Bloemfontein Celtic 2-1 at Vodacom Park on Sunday, despite being minus several key players.
The players who did not accompany Chiefs to Bloemfontein due to national call-ups included Cyril Nzama, Rowen Fernandez, Simphiwe Mkhonza (South Africa), Mbesuma, Tinashe Nengomashe (Zimbabwe), Patrick Mabedi (Malawi) and Kabamba Musasa (Democratic Republic of Congo).
Nzama, Fernandez and Mkhonza were part of the Bafana Bafana squad that pocketed the three points after beating Uganda 1-0 in Kampala on Sunday.
Chiefs last played two seasons ago in Port Elizabeth in a game that saw the Eastern Cape side being relegated to the Mvela Golden League after losing the match 1-0. — Sapa