Kaizer Chiefs wonderkid has sent a stern warning to their Soweto rivals Orlando Pirates that they should expect him in their clash this coming Saturday at FNB Stadium. The 19-year-old striker had an impressive showing in his third appearance for Amakhosi and has set his site for his looming Soweto Derby debut.
Duba scored a magnificent winning goal on Tuesday night in their match against Lamontville Golden Arrows. This was Kaizer Chiefs’ must-win match in a bid to redeem themselves after being knocked out of the Nedbank Cup by the Motsepe Foundation side Milford United recently.
Speaking to Supersport during his post-match interview, Duba explained that he has been working hard at every training session starting from the pre-season training to be able to feature in the starting eleven. He added that in preparation for the game, the coaches as well as the technical team advised him to believe in himself. “Coming to this game, they did (the coaches and technical team) tell me that if I believe in myself, I will score a goal because I have been working hard since the training.”
Ladies and gentlemen; Wandile Duba 🌟#DStvPrem pic.twitter.com/HTgPErGb9E
— SuperSport Football ⚽️ (@SSFootball) March 5, 2024
When asked about his brilliant goal Duba mentioned that his inspiration came from Phil Foden’s 56th minute strike in the Manchester Derby of which City came out victorious 3-1 despite trailing 1-0 for much of the game. Duba curled in a wonderful strike to the top-left corner in the 11th minute after receiving a ball from Pule Mmodi which Arrows keeper Sifiso Mlungwana was left standing seeing that he had no chance of making a save.
Despite being substituted in the 57th minute after picking up an ankle injury, he remains positive that the injury is not that serious and that he will be fit and ready to make his first Soweto Derby appearance.
Chiefs coach Cavin Johnson praised Duba for his performance: “I am happy for young Duba, he scored a beautiful goal in the first half. We had to take him off the pitch because his ankle got hurt. We gave the youngster his moment, he was good, and he got hurt and we had to take him off, and I feel sorry for him.”
Johnson also shared his thoughts about the upcoming game against Pirates: “It is a big game and supporters are a bit happier today. (But) we have to go and prepare a lot better for Pirates than we did for the last game against Pirates.”
This will be Johnson’s second derby at the helm, Amakhosi suffered a 1-0 loss in their last meeting against Orlando Pirates through a goal that was scored by Evidence Makgopa.
Written by Siphesihle Soni