Kaizer Chiefs’ will be keen to avoid another ‘Milford banana skin’

Herman Gibbs

In an upset of epic proportions, South Africa’s most storied club Kaizer Chiefs ended up on the Nedbank Cup also-rans scrapheap after losing in the opening round to little-known KwaZulu-Natal first-division club Milford FC at home last season.

The 2025 first-round draw has served up another David versus Goliath scenario which will play out on Sunday at the FNB Stadium (starting at 6pm), where Chiefs will host the third-tier ABC Motsepe League side Free Agents FC.

Chiefs will be looking back at last year's debacle with hopes of avoiding a repeat.

Chiefs Tunisian coach Nasreddine Nabi would have reflected on the disaster, but he won't be in the dug-out on Sunday to lend support.

He is serving a suspension, and this gives his nervous system a break ahead of next week's Soweto Derby at the same venue.

His assistant Khalil Ben Youssef will be in charge of the team and he said the technical staff have already worked with the players to prepare them to deal with opponents from lower leagues.

“To be honest, this problem is not only with Kaizer Chiefs. It always happens when a team from a lower division plays a team from the higher division. They struggle, they have a lot of problems,” said Youssef.

“I know, we have problems when playing against teams from the lower division.

"We discussed it a lot. We had individual meetings with our players. We discuss this a lot with them to prepare themselves."

Youssef said Chiefs will be ready to deal with "mentality problems“ against Free Agents who have "nothing to lose". “Like I said, it’s mental problems because this team (from the lower division) does not have pressure. If they win the game, it means everything to them," said Youssef.

“If they lose, no one can blame them for losing the game, because there is a difference between the levels”.

Free Agents FC coach and owner Olaitan Oladeru says his players are excited about the match. He says the players can't believe they will appear on live TV.

The players are working like Trojans at training and Oladeru feels Chiefs must prepare well.

Free Agents FC, like other ABC Motsepe League sides The Bees, Mighty Eagles and Lerumo Lions have not featured in the Nedbank Cup before.

Youssef said some players displayed a mentality of winning the game before it was played because the opponents were from a lower division.

"It is in all of Africa that when you prepare mentally for a team in a lower division you can think you have won the game before you play,” said Youssef.

“It is not like when you play a big team, a player prepares himself already because he knows he has to perform.

“If we start the game and concede a goal there will be pressure from the fans. It will make for a situation in the game where there will be a lot of pressure on the players.

“The players can only think that this is a tough game. We have a mental coach who works with us and meets the players individually.”