Chiefs’ Blom ready to bloom with Champions League victory

For Njabulo Blom, playing in countries like Burkina Faso where he saw first hand the hardships some people live under has helped him grow and mature both as a player and an individual.

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“Playing outside the country helped me grow as a young player. It has helped me grow as an individual,” says the 21-year-old.

“When we went to Burkina Faso, we saw how the people there are struggling. It was touching to see how people live that side and work till late at night to eke out a living. It was touching to see how dedicated they are to what they do,” added Blom.

The lessons seem to have worked as it built a resilience in the Chiefs team and brought the group of players even closer together. This is why they have pushed until they got to the Caf Champions League final. Amakhosi will meet Al Ahly in the final at Stade Mohammed V in Casablanca, Morocco on Saturday night.

“I am so excited… it was not easy,” says Blom of Chiefs’ run up to the final. “We didn’t have a good start because we lost some games. But as a team we decided that we would keep on going and grinding.

“I feel like us being here is due to our hard work and God’s grace. We have prepared very well and we will do our best. We are going there to do our best to try and win the trophy. But we will not underestimate Al Ahly because we know they are a good and experienced team.”

Asked which game was the hardest on their road to the final, Blom picked the quarter-final second leg against Simba SC in Tanzania. “The game where we played Simba, it was a hard game,” he says.

“The atmosphere was not right for us, it was really hot and as you know in Jozi it was winter at that time. So, it was very hard to play in those conditions.” On the preparations, he said: “We have been working hard as a team. I feel that the technical team has done well in planning the sessions and how we will go about in the game.”