Kaizer Chiefs cannot have big ambitions after one win – Mphahlele

Kaizer Chiefs full-back Ramahlwe Mphahlele admitted it felt good to start the season on the front foot following their win over Highlands Park last weekend. 

Amakhosi needed an 83rd-minute goal from Erick Mathoho to seal the 3-2 win, and Mphahlele says the result showed that they are capable of winning games. 

“Look, in as much as it was our first game, it felt good to start well. It gives you a sense of belief that you’re capable of winning games because you know how the mind works; immediately you don’t do well in your first game then the ghosts from last season start haunting you,” Mphahlele told the media at the club headquarters in Naturena. 

“And then you’re likely to fall into that pitfall of saying, ‘Ah, here we go again’, but now we won the [first] game and we can only build from there and take it one game at a time.

Asked if this could be Amakhosi’s season to lift the PSL trophy given the fact that the last time they won an opening match of the season was back in 2014, when they went on to be crowned champions under Stuart Baxter, Mphahlele said: “I do believe in omens sometimes. I didn’t actually know about that but as I said, it does feel good to have won our first game.” 

However, the 29-year-old defender warned against complacency and setting the bar too high for Amakhosi, especially because they are on a recovery phase after finishing outside the top eight last season. 

“We need to just build on from it; let’s not get carried away and start having too big ambitions,” he continued. 

Ernst Middendorp’s men travel to Durban this weekend to face Black Leopards in what will be their second match of the campaign, and the South Africa international explained why the encounter will be difficult for Chiefs.   

“We have another one on Saturday against Black Leopards, which is going to be very difficult because they lost their first game and will want to bounce back,” concluded Mphahlele.