‘We are thinking only of winning rather than good football,’ said the Chiefs co-head coach.
Kaizer Chiefs co-head coach Khalil Ben-Youssef says a focus on results over performance in the new year has helped Amakhosi get off to a winning start to 2026.
Chiefs off to a fine start
Amakhosi beat Golden Arrows in their return to DStv Premiership action last week and followed that up on Sunday by beating Zesco United 1-0 in Ndola in the Caf Confederation Cup.
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That result was their first win in three attempts in Group D revived Chiefs’ hopes of making it to the quarterfinals.
Chiefs will play Marumo Gallants in Mangaung at the Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium on Wednesday in the Premiership, before taking on Zesco in the return Group D fixture at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Sunday.
“We had a lot of meetings with the players and discussed the importance of winning,” said Ben Youssef after Pule Mmodi’s early goal was enough to give Chiefs their first ever win over Zesco.
“We are thinking only of winning rather than good football. In the first round we played a lot of good games and were unlucky not to score and drew. Now we think about winning. If the good football comes we are happy. If not, we are also happy.”
To be fair to Chiefs, the pitch at the Levy Mwanawasa Stadium was not exactly conducive to slick passing football on Sunday.
“Yesterday we had a training session on this pitch and discovered that this pitch was so difficult to play on,” added Ben Youssef.
“We had to manage how we play. We are a technical team but with these kinds of pitches it is dangerous. You have to make three or four touches to control the ball before you can play it.”
Both of Chiefs’ goals in 2026 have come from set pieces, and Ben Youssef says this is the result of hard work during the break for the Africa Cup of Nations finals.
‘We worked a lot’
“In the Fifa break we worked a lot on strategic (set piece) balls. We watched a lot of the corner kicks and free kicks of Zesco and the players followed these instructions.”
The trip to Gallants continues a hectic schedule for Chiefs, as they aim to compete on both domestically and on the continent.
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“We know this month is so busy … we will need all of our squad and thank God we have a big squad,” added Ben Youssef.
“We can rotate players and allow other players to take a rest.”