Nabi says Chiefs don’t accept losing despite impressive display

Kaizer Chiefs head coach Nasreddine Nabi says success is in the clubs’ blood, and all he might have done since arriving is stir a sleeping giant.

Chiefs went down 2-1 to Mamelodi Sundowns in a Betway Premiership match at FNB Stadium on Saturday. It was, however, an encouraging display from Amakhosi, in front of a sell-out 85 000 crowd.

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With better finishing, Chiefs would almost certainly have got something from the game. This was particularly after a second half display in which they put Sundowns under serious pressure.

‘It is normal’

“There is no new strategy (here) at Chiefs,” said Nabi, who won his first two Premiership games against Marumo Gallants and AmaZulu.

“Maybe I have woken up what was sleeping, but it is normal if players at Chiefs have this specific DNA and personality.”

Chiefs started well on Saturday and went ahead when Ranga Chivaviro showed impressive strength to hold off his man and fire home in the ninth minute.

Sundowns showed their class as they worked their way back into the game. Lucas Ribeiro and Iqraam Rayners scored to turn the tie on its head.

Nabi did indicate that Chiefs need to sustain a mentality of not accepting defeat.

“After the first Sundowns goal we observed some players’ heads went down. The demons of last season came back (Cavin Johnson’s Chiefs ended up finishing 10^th in the table).

“We don’t accept this mentality. It is possible to concede a goal. But if you put your head down (after that), we don’t accept this. Don’t think we are happy about today.

‘This is Chiefs and we don’t accept losing’

“I dislike losing. Maybe the performance was better than last season. But this is Chiefs and we don’t accept losing. We are not just happy that we had a good second half.”

Chiefs were on the attack for much of the second half. Ranga Chivaviro and Ashley Du Preez both failed to take excellent opportunities.

Amakhosi fans even thought they had equalised in the last seconds of the game. But the goal was disallowed, sparking an unsavoury throwing of objects from the stands.

Nabi and his coaching staff had been incensed in the first half, when Ribeiro appeared to be marginally offside in the build up to Rayners’ winner.

ALSO READ: Sundowns bounce back to edge out Chiefs

The Chiefs head coach spent a long time letting the assistant referee know his thoughts on the matter. But he declined to talk about the match officials after the game.

“I don’t talk about referees, it is not my speciality,” he said with a diplomacy he had not shown during the match.