Nabi hails ‘incredible’ Mmodi as Chiefs see off Chippa

Kaizer Chiefs head coach Nasreddine Nabi showered Pule Mmodi with praise after his contribution to Amakhosi’s 3-0 Nedbank Cup last 16 win over Chippa United at FNB Stadium on Saturday.

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It was full back Reeve Frosler who picked up the official Man-of-the-Match Award, but Nabi believes Mmodi was the best player on the pitch.

Chiefs’ Mmodi magic

The 31 year-old has been excellent for Chiefs of late, and played a part on Saturday in winning an Amakhosi penalty, while also netting his side’s third goal.

All of Mmodi’s goals this season have come in the Nedbank Cup – he scored twice against Free Agents in the last 32.

“What Mmodi does on the field is incredible,” Nabi told the post match press conference.

“Maybe he could have scored earlier, he had opportunities, but for me he was the best player on the field.

“He works consistently, he poses a threat directly to the opponent all the time. You could see all the set pieces he won for us. He gets back all the time, he works incredibly for the team.”

Mmodi’s resurgence at Chiefs has been another indicator of Amakhosi relying on more experience to turn their campaign around.

The 32 year-old Gaston Sirino has also returned to the Chiefs starting line up of late and scored a brilliant opening goal against Chippa.

The likes of Mfundo Vilakazi and Mduduzi Shabalala started on the bench against the Chilli Boyz, though they did eventually get some playing time.

‘A normal situation’

“It is a good thing for a young player, a normal situation to have such experienced players play with them,” added Nabi.

“It is going to push them to work harder and get to that level, instead of thinking it is going to come to them easily.”

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“Those players are in a phase of development … there are a lot of things they need to learn to cope with – technically, physically and tactically. But also if they don’t play as much as before, we need to pay them a lot of attention. (We need to) be close to them and show them we care about their development, and their well being, and show them they are heading in the right direction.”