Young Azola’s debut performance eases pain of Chiefs loss for Lentjies

Chippa United coach Kurt Lentjies showed some bravery when he unleashed the young and inexperienced Azola Matrose in a big game against Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday. 

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And while Chippa lost the game 3-1, Matrose’s performance on the night left many impressed and hopeful that he is one for the future.

Lentjies was also impressed, but he knows it is not time to blow vuvuzelas over this discovery. 

“Azola picked himself during the week,” said Lentjies. “We have been monitoring his progress during the times he trained with us and also in the DDC (DStv Diski Challenge) team. I was not surprised that he performed the way he did because he has been showing it at training. 

“I am very happy for him, but then as a club and as players we have a huge task to protect him. We cannot expect fireworks from him in every single game. We need to play him at the correct times. But it is up to him. He needs to keep training hard, we can’t think after one performance that we have found the next Messi or Ronaldo. He needs to perform consistently, be consistent in training as well.” 

The result of the game however soured things for the youngster who would rather forget the game.   

“Obviously after conceding the first goal, I can’t say the signs were not there. They were creating chance after chance… Defensively we were not there. But then we managed to get ourselves in the game early in the second half. 

“The result was disappointing especially if you look at how the goals were conceded. It is not like we were played off the park by the opponent. If it had been so, then we would say we lost to a team that we deserved to lose to,”  said Lentjies. 

The Chilli Boys will have to quickly change their focus to SuperSport United who are also wounded after a gruelling 3-2 loss to Golden Arrows also on Saturday evening.  

“Both teams came out with a loss and conceded three goals so it is going to be an interesting game on Tuesday. Obviously we respect them as a big team and that is why they are in the position they are in on the log… 

“But we prepare our team and focus on what we need to focus on. We will give them the respect that they deserve. We are at the stage of the season where three points are very important for us.”