Bring on Chiefs: Madinda

Sport
BOTSWANA be Mobile Premier Soccer League (PSL) champions Township Rollers coach Madinda Ndlovu (pictured) is not worried about the Orange Caf African Champions League draw that will see his side facing South Africa’s Kaizer Chiefs in the preliminary round.

BOTSWANA be Mobile Premier Soccer League (PSL) champions Township Rollers coach Madinda Ndlovu is not worried about the Orange Caf African Champions League draw that will see his side facing South Africa’s Kaizer Chiefs in the preliminary round.

RONALD MOYO SPORTS REPORTER

Amakhosi will host Rollers in the first leg on the weekend of February 13, 14 and 15 with the return duel set for the weekend of February 27 and 28 and March 1, according to the draw conducted in Cairo, Egypt, on Monday.

The former Warriors and Highlanders legend Ndlovu who has been in the country for the past two weeks attending a Caf A coaching clinic in Harare said as much as he respected Kaizer Chiefs, they didn’t feel threatened by the South African Absa PSL giants.

“I saw the draw yesterday (Monday),” he said.

“We could have played any other team. I am not sure of the condition of players since I have not been with them for the past two weeks. I will assess the condition of the players when I get back to Botswana.

Township Rollers
Township Rollers

“We are not worried about our opponents, they are unbeaten in their domestic league and we are also unbeaten in our league. It is a match that requires a lot of research for both teams.”

Kaizer Chiefs are enjoying a good spell as they have gone for 18 league matches without a defeat, with 14 wins and four draws.

They have amassed 46 points, 15 points clear of champions Mamelodi Sundowns and Bidvest Wits who are occupying the second and third positions respectively.

They are enjoying a 20-point gap between them and Gauteng rivals Orlando Pirates who are on position four with 26 points.

Rollers are unbeaten in their domestic league winning 11 and drawing four matches in their last 15 matches.

They occupy the top spot in the Botswana league with 37 points, four points ahead of second-positioned Mochudi Centre Chiefs — a team that Ndlovu led to two successive titles in the last two seasons.

The clubs last met a decade ago, in the “Show U Care” tournament encounter, a friendly match which was played in Botswana where Chiefs emerged victorious after defeating Rollers 5-2 in a penalty shoot-out.

This will be the second African Champions league appearance with two different Botswana sides for the former Highlanders and Warriors winger.

In 2013, he guided Mochudi Centre Chiefs in the same competition which they exited in the first round following an away 1-6 routing and 0-1 home defeat in the hands of the former African Champions TP Mazembe.

To meet the Democratic Republic of Congo side in the first round, Centre Chiefs had advanced the hard way with a giant-killing act over 1995 CAF Cup semi-finalists and six-time Mozambique league champions Maxaquene.

Ndlovu’s side had beaten Maxaquene 1-0 home and away to advance 2-0 on aggregate.

Zimbabwe’s four-time champions Dynamos pulled out of the competition due to unstable financial position.