Chiefs U-17s fly past Chinese opponent
Chiefs U-17s fly past Chinese opponent

Posted in News, Youth Academy on Mar 27, 2019.

Mthokozisi Balakasi scored a brace and Reece Bartlett netted once to help Kaizer Chiefs Under-17s easily fly past Chinese side, Beijing Sinobo Guoan FC. The Amakhosi youngsters won 3-0 in their second Future Champions Gauteng International Tournament group stage fixture on Tuesday.

It was a great recovery after Club Brugge had the better of Chiefs’ Under-17s side on Monday.

The Ace Khuse-coached side came out fighting and were more organised as a team than in the previous match. The nerves shown in the first game against the Belgians were also gone and instead the team was full of confidence.

Bartlett (wearing jersey number 20) was used as a target man upfront. The tall player has also been used as a defender and central midfielder but showed equal capabilities as a kind of number 9.

Balakasi (jersey number 7) had freedom of movement upfront and used it to his advantage, hence his two goals.

“Thanks to the improvement our players showed today, we are looking forward to our next games confidently,” commented the head of the Kaizer Chiefs Youth Development Academy, Sundra Govinder.

Chiefs’ Under-17s will next play against Spartak Moscow on Wednesday, 27 March. Kick-off will be at 14:30 at the Nike Centre, Pimville, Soweto.

Amakhosi now have three points from their two games played. The Russians also booked their first points on Tuesday, beating highly-rated Mexican side, Club Tijuana.

This all bodes well for an enthralling encounter, especially as games today will determine which sides will go to the semis and which sides will enter the playoff rounds for the other positions at stake.

The Future Champions Gauteng International Tournament will have a break on Thursday, after which the playoff rounds follow on Friday and Saturday.

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