Sporting director Kaizer Motaung Jnr has revealed his expectations of Kaizer Chiefs players from the Soweto giant's pre-season tour in the Netherlands.
Amakhosi's preparations for the new season are in full swing as they arrived in Apeldoorn, Holland, where they have set up camp for two weeks.
On Tuesday evening, they suffered a 2-1 defeat to SBV Vitesse in the first friendly of the tour.
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Speaking to the club's media, Motaung Jnr revealed what his expectations are from the camp, which still includes four more matches to be played.
"It’s about cross-cultures and about having a pre-season at a higher level than we are used to, which also has to do with having really competitive training matches," Motaung Jnr told Chiefs’ website.
"Training and playing games in Europe is also about getting players out of their comfort zone. It’s a different environment; it’s about a lot of travelling to the training matches, and it’s about preparing the mindset of players for the upcoming season.
"We want the players to test themselves against these really strong sides. They will learn from it and will not only become better as individual players, but, maybe even more important, improve as a team.
"That’s why we are so happy that the Chairman, Dr Kaizer Motaung, and the Board supported us to go overseas for pre-season again.
"Going to Holland is not only something new for the youngsters, but also for several of the older players,” he added.
"It’s about integrating the newly signed players into the squad and bonding as a team.
"The most important aspect, of course, is to get the players fully prepared for the upcoming season, both from a physical and tactical point of view."
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Next up for Chiefs is a testing encounter against Dutch top-flight side FC Utrecht. The match will be played on Friday.
The match kick-off is at 16:00 (SA time).
Photo: Gallo Images/ Lefty Shivambu
