Johannesburg – Kaizer Chiefs’ striker Leonardo Castro says he’s rejuvenated and ready to help the team by banging in the goals in the second half of the term following a long hiatus.
Amakhosi endured a rollercoaster outing in the first half of the season. They had an underwhelming start before finding their feet. But their momentum was interrupted following the outbreak of Covid-19 at their base, the Village, early December.
Chiefs resulted in forfeiting their first two matches of the month, before they played the last three, winning two and losing one. But with their appeal to play those matches set to go for arbitration this month, Chiefs were hard at work in January.
They camped in Cape Town, where they played friendly matches against teams such as Cape Town Spurs, preparing for the final stretch of the season. That was a success as there were players that were relieved from the medical room.
“I think this break helped us as injured players returned to training. It was a good time to revive ourselves in terms of fitness and match-conditioning. We are ready to tackle the games ahead with responsibility and desire,” Castro said.
"Hopefully, I can celebrate again. I want to do my celebration in the next game. And I also want to show the (supporters and everyone) that I still have the desire to play and win more games and trophies for Kaizer Chiefs going forward."
One of the players that returned to full training was striker Samir Nurkovic. The Serbian only played the first five domestic matches of the season, before a knee injury kept him out for the rest of the year. But he’s pleased that he's back.
“I'm really happy to be back finally, with the boys on the field. We are working hard as we prepare for the next match (in the Nedbank Cup),” Nurkovic said. “But I am working hard to get back into the shape that I was in (before my injury).”
Having Castro and a fully-fit Nurkovic at his disposal will serve as a huge morale booster for Stuart Baxter. For the better part of the season, the British born coach had to tweak his philosophy and move his players around to find goals.
The trio of Nkosingiphile Ngcobo, Khama Billiat and Keagan Dolly, however, took that on the strie as they scored some crucial goals for Amakhosi who ended the year in fourth place on the log, 19 points behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns.
Chiefs, though, will turn their focus to the Nedbank Cup in their first game of the new year when they host bogey side TS Galaxy at the FNB Stadium on Saturday. Galaxy surprisingly defeated Chiefs in the final of the competition in 2019.
But since their meeting at the Moses Mabhida Stadium a lot has changed. Galaxy bought their way into the top-flight last term. And that’s why Castro says they know more about the Rockets now than they did in their first clash in Durban.
“Nedbank Cup is important for us. We take each and every tournament seriously. We have to take it the right way, starting on the weekend,” he said. “They have a really good team. But we have to remain who we are at the end.”
IOL Sport