Billiat heeds Hunt’s advice as Chiefs eye continental glory

Khama Billiat praised the advice given to him by Gavin Hunt, after the Zimbabwean’s brilliant assist set up the vital goal in Angola that ultimately got Kaizer Chiefs into the Caf Champions League group stages.

Amakhosi won 1-0 at Primeiro De Agosto, becoming the first South African side to win away from home against the Angolan giants, with Leonardo Castro benefitting from Billiat’s fine run to slot home the winner four minutes from half time, and complete a 1-0 aggregate victory.

Chiefs will now go into the group stage draw on Friday, having qualified for this stage of the continent’s premier domestic club competition for the first time.

“Normally the coach is always on my case that my strength is to run behind defenders and make sure I attack,” said Billiat after the game.

“As soon as Njabulo (Blom) and (Philani) Zulu got the ball, I just turned and gave them my back and started running. As expected, Njabulo put the ball behind the defence, that made it easy for me … I just told myself to eliminate the one (defender) in front of me, and I knew there would be a player in the box. Castro was in the right position at the right time.”

Billiat praised the whole club, and especially chairman Kaizer Motaung for the work that had gone into ensuring Chiefs had the best possible preparation for the game in Luanda.

“Coming with a charter flight, we really appreciate the whole effort the chairman has put in. It is really important for us to go and test ourselves against the rest of the Champions League giants. It really gives us confidence going back to domestic competition, and we really want to go all the way (in the Champions League). We want to push ourselves to the limit and see how far we can go … we stuck to the plan (in Angola) and it wasn’t easy … It is going to be tough (in the group stages) and we can only learn and grow as a team.”

Chiefs could certainly do with a confidence boost in their domestic campaign, as they now prepare to take on Maritzburg United in the DStv Premiership on Saturday. Amakhosi have won just one of their first eight league games as they face their former head coach Ernst Middendorp, who was sacked by Chiefs at the end of last season, as they just missed out on the league title.

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