The 56-year-old tactician was pleased to see the Glamour Boys reach the last four despite his side having conceded three goals
Kaizer Chiefs head coach Gavin Hunt refused to take credit after he guided the Soweto giants to the Caf Champions League semi-finals for the first time in the club’s history.
The Glamour Boys succumbed to a 3-0 loss to Tanzanian champions Simba SC in the quarter-final second-leg encounter at Benjamin Mkapa National Stadium in Dar es Salaam on Saturday evening.
However, Hunt’s side won the tie 4-3 on aggregate and they are now set to take on Moroccan side Wydad Casablanca in the two-legged semi-final tie next month.
Before the accomplished local tactician was appointed Chiefs coach in September 2020, Amakhosi had never reached the Champions League group stages, but he changed that and he led the Soweto giants to a second-place finish in Group C which saw the team reach the knockout phase.
Hunt has now made further history by guiding the Glamour Boys to the last four of Africa’s premier football club tournament and he insisted that the achievement is for the club.
“Well, it was history just to get into the group, and then… but obviously, yeah… it’s not for me, it’s for the club. It has nothing to do with me, it’s only the club,” Hunt told Chiefs’ media.
“It was obviously very difficult today but I mean, we got through and that’s the most important thing.”
Chiefs came into the clash having secured a 4-0 win at home in the first-leg clash last weekend and they conceded three goals against Simba in Tanzania with John Bocco (brace) and Clatous Chama scoring for the hosts.
“There was no danger for 25-26 minutes, we got a corner and then they scored from that corner, which put us a little bit back and turned the first half [in their favour],” Hunt continued.
“They got a second and third [goal] and obviously made it a little difficult, and then we defended for the last bit of time.”
The former SuperSport United head coach said they expected Simba to attack in numbers and he was pleased to see his side weather the storm on the day.
“They’re the home team, they obviously were going to throw numbers forward – they left four [strikers] up, and they just played it long in there,” he added.
“If you don’t win the first and second ball, you’ve got problems and that was the problem. We couldn’t get [the ball] down for various reasons; we kept giving it away.
“But yeah, the most important thing is that we’re through – it’s a knockout game and we’re through.”
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