Katsande happy to be part of history
Katsande happy to be part of history

Posted in News, Team News on Jan 10, 2020.

On a historical night on Wednesday evening Willard Katsande had the honour of leading out Kaizer Chiefs in front of a huge crowd as they celebrated turning 50 years old, for their Absa Premiership fixture against Highlands Park at the FNB Stadium. The game ended up being a comfortable 3-0 win for Amakhosi. Having been part of a historical occasion for the club Katsande has now turned his attention to Chiefs’ next assignment, which is a league clash against Cape Town City on Sunday afternoon at FNB Stadium.

Speaking of the privilege of captaining Chiefs a day after the club turned 50 Katsande says: “We were aware of the historical importance of Wednesday’s game for the club. We did not want the occasion to be spoiled, the guys came to the party and we did not disappoint. Also being the captain of a big institution like Kaizer Chiefs is a privilege and it will go down in the history books of the club.”

Katsande believes it was important for Chiefs who were on a two-league game winless run, to get a positive result against Highlands Park. “Coming from a setback, it was not easy for us as a team. We really wanted the three points in order for us to consolidate our place at the top of the Absa Premiership table as well as running away from the other teams.”

Katsande who could play his 270th game for Chiefs in all competitions against Cape Town City would like nothing more than to make Chiefs’ 50th anniversary a special one for all of the fans. He adds, “We want people to look back at this milestone year with a smile. For us the cherry on top would be to win some silverware and that will take a lot of effort, but we are doing our best.”

With Chiefs having regained a six-point gap at the top of the table, Katsande says he and his teammates are well aware of the fact that the other teams will not make life easy for them: “it is never easy to be on top, but we are really only focusing on what is good for us and Kaizer Chiefs and not really worried about any other teams.  We now have our minds and focus on the next game against Cape Town City.”

With Chiefs welcoming City to the FNB Stadium, a venue where Amakhosi have won their last four league games, the hardworking midfielder is expecting a difficult game but believes that being at home could work in the Amakhosi’s favour.

“It is going to be a game of high intensity, but we are at home and have been doing well at FNB Stadium,” he says as he concludes. “We will go all out to get the maximum points from the game. We want to perform consistently well to get the club to where it belongs,

“A lot of our success is down to the huge support we get. The fans built this team up and it was a wonderful atmosphere on Wednesday evening. The Amakhosi faithful did us proud. When you get that kind of support, you can only go out onto the field of play and get the results for them. We want to continue to bring our supporters happiness and overall we appreciate their support.”

The game against Cape Town City kicks off at 15:30 on Sunday. Tickets are available from Computicket and Shoprite/Checkers stores at R40 per ticket.

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