Head coach Nasreddine Nabi has hailed the fighting spirit inside his squad, revealing a strong message from youngster Wandile Duba to teammates at halftime in the Final of the Nedbank Cup against Orlando Pirates.
Amakhosi walked away 2-1 winners in the final of the Nedbank Cup played at a sold-out Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday. Gaston Sirino had opened the scoring with a spot kick before Evidence Makgopa levelled matters for the Pirates just minutes later.
READ | WARNED: SAPS prepared for Nedbank Cup final drama
It took a venomous volley from Glamour Boys captain to settle the tie in the second half with just under 20 minutes of play.
While the skipper walked away with a deserved Man of the Match award and all the headlines, Nabi revealed that a pep-talk from striker Duba during the break went a long way in rallying his squad while the score was level.
"First of all, I want to congratulate all the players who were on the field, on the bench, because they wanted so much to win this cup, that everyone showed big character," Nabi said in the post-match press conference via translator and assistant coach Cedric Kaze.
"Even at halftime, a player like Duba was screaming at players older than him at halftime, saying, 'No, we are not good enough guys. We need to step up our play, we need to step up more, and everyone gave everything they could.
"Sometimes they were tired, sometimes they were injured, but everyone went beyond what they could do because everyone knew. It's something we spoke about even before the game, that everyone could be in the history of this club, after ten years.
"Everyone did everything they could, and the first people to congratulate are the players who did everything they could to win the final and to get here."
The win marks the end of an ten-year trophy drought for Chiefs and perhaps the true start of Nabi's success story with the Soweto giants.
