The gesture by the PSL's top goalscorer, Bernard Parker of Kaizer Chiefs, after his team beat Moroka Swallows 3-1 last weekend explains why Amakhosi have been such a mean machine this season. Parker downplayed his two-goal contribution and handed his man-of-the match prize to teammate Siyabonga Nkosi, saying that the midfielder's industry had been instrumental in the club's victory.
Parker's magnanimity also sent a message to the fans, who have given Nkosi a hard time, that the midfielder was a much-appreciated member of the team. Nkosi once had to retaliate against fans calling for his substitution with the rolling hands gesture by mimicking them.
That the former Bloemfontein Celtic maestro was at one stage a serious contender for the number 15 jersey once worn by club icon, assistant coach Doctor Khumalo, speaks to the fickleness of local fans and sometimes to their lack of appreciation for the clean-up guy who makes the club tick.
Parker announced to all that Chiefs has incredible team spirit – and it is a football truism that the willingness to die for each other is a more essential ingredient than individual talent for clubs that want to be great.
Take Manchester United, who this week won their 20th league title, whereas their noisy neighbours, Manchester City, have come nowhere close to them, despite having a better squad, pound for pound.
Back to Chiefs: whatever happens going forward, they have had a season to remember. And it is as difficult now to find a Chiefs fan who backed Stuart Baxter's choice for coach as it is to find anyone who voted for the Nats during apartheid.
Such is Chiefs' fine form and game that their fans will ignore the fact that Amakhosi have not won anything yet and, football being what it is, could still end the season without a trophy. This is despite them being six points ahead of second-placed Platinum Stars, whom they meet in Polokwane on Sunday. Their next encounter after that will be against first-division outfit United FC in the semifinals of the Nedbank Cup on Saturday May 4.
Six-pointer
Not many would have predicted when the fixture list was released at the beginning of the season that the Chiefs-Stars encounter would be a six-pointer, featuring the top two.
Stars are themselves probably surprised that they are where they are at the moment. Not that they have a bad team. Thuso Phala, discarded by Chiefs and Sundowns as average, is the only serious Bafana Bafana contender, although Namibia striker Enrico Botes and Botswana international Mogakolodi Ngele's contributions have been pivotal to the Dikwena course.
Stars coach Cavin Johnson's organisation and attention to detail, honed by many years as a youth development coach, plus a bunch of hard-working, experienced players without airs, have catapulted the journeyman club into contenders for a league and cup double.
They stand in the way of the Chiefs family's sentiment that providence owes their great club something.
And why should Chiefs not believe it is time to reclaim their glory? The club spends heavily but judiciously. Baxter has given players who had started to doubt themselves a new lease on life. Chiefs have played with pace and purpose all season and every time they broke out they looked like scoring.
Despite starting some games with what, on paper, is a five-man defence, Chiefs have been lethal in attack and predictably solid in defence. They have scored the most (46) and conceded the least (17).
Three Chiefs players are in the top goal-scorer charts – Parker has 12, Lehlohonolo Majoro has eight and Kingston Nkhatha has seven.
In contention
Ordinarily, teams winning the championship have boasted of an average of two points a match for the season. Chiefs' 55 points from 26 matches is three points better than that benchmark.
On that score alone, very few football fans, not even Pirates supporters, will begrudge Amakhosi their first PSL title in eight years.
Third-placed Pirates stand to gain the most from the Chiefs-Stars match, regardless of how it goes – although a draw would be best for them. Mathematically, Pirates are still in contention. It is an often overlooked fact that the defending league champions have played the exact number of draws as Chiefs – 10. The difference is that Chiefs have lost only once – to Stars. Pirates lost twice to Swallows and once to Bloemfontein Celtic.
A Chiefs win means that Pirates might be able to finish second, not that this will be cause for Bucs fans to celebrate. Bucs hoping for a Chiefs loss will be doing so not only because they are longtime rivals but also because it could reduce the gap between them to just three points, provided the Buccaneers break their run of six draws in a row and beat Bidvest Wits at the Mbombela Stadium on Saturday.
A Stars victory will open the door ever so slightly for Dikwena and Pirates. But with Amakhosi still to play an increasingly desperate Ajax Cape Town away and perennial tough customers SuperSport United, we could still be in for a nail-biting PSL final.