Life seemed to be starting all over at 42 for former Kaizer Chiefs and Bafana Bafana legend John ”Shoes” Moshoeu when he scored the equalising goal for AmaZulu against his old club in a 1-1 PSL draw at a rowdy King’s Park in Durban on Wednesday night.
Moshoeu, a Chiefs’ legend during two extended periods with the club on each side of a successful career in Turkey, did not leave Amakhosi on the most cordial of terms at what seemed the tail-end of his career.
But he has continued with AmazZulu into his 40s and he jumped in the air like a gymnast after scoring against Chiefs.
On the back of their recent Telkom Knockout Final success against Mamelodi Sundowns over the weekend, Chiefs seemed well on the way to improving a precarious place near the bottom of the PSL log table when Kaizer Motaung Junior gave them a 1-0 lead in the 60th minute with a precise headed goal.
But the advantage was short-lived as Moshoeu wriggled his way through a packed goalmouth to score a close-range equaliser seven minutes later.
And, to add to Chiefs’ discomfort, Zimbabwean international fullback Onismor Bhasera was shown a red card as Amakhosi finished the game with 10 men for their sixth draw in 11 league games this season.
The point achieved in the process lifts Chiefs from 13th position in the log to 11th place — but a distant 12 points behind log leaders Ajax Cape Town.
AmaZulu moved a place up the log table to eighth position and were never over-awed by their opponent’s reputation.
”It was a good game and we deserved the draw,” said former Bafana and AmaZulu coach Clive Barker, ”and I’m proud of the way the lads stuck to their guns — and, of course, for Shoes it was a very special occasion”.
Chiefs’ chairperson Kaizer Motaung felt Chiefs deserved the three points — ”but we missed our chances”, he added.
”Also we missed key suspended players Tinashe Nengomasha and Shaun Bartlett,” said Motaung, ”and the revamped team played with a lot of effort and showed no reaction from the cup final against Sundowns on Saturday.” – Sapa