Stay with us! Da Cruz makes emotional plea after Kaizer Chiefs stumble in Zambia

Fernando Da Cruz is asking Kaizer Chiefs supporters to keep believing when his team needs them most.

Details: Kaizer Chiefs suffered a frustrating 1-0 defeat away to Red Arrows in the first leg of the CAF Confederation Cup second preliminary round on Saturday. After the setback in Ndola, Da Cruz acknowledged the disappointment among the Amakhosi faithful but stressed that the tie is far from over, with the decisive return leg scheduled for Friday, October 23, at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.

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Addressing the supporters after the match, Da Cruz called for unity around the club and insisted his players are capable of reversing the deficit:

"They shouldn't be very happy right now. No, I know very well they are not happy. Because the results today at PSL, we don't lose, we don't win either. Today, we lost. But the first leg is a return match. We need the supporters for the game on Friday. To support us. because I know that the team is able to reverse the result. What is most important is that in difficult moments we must stay united, players, staff, club and supporters to get through this period and get better results."

The coach also admitted that Chiefs offered too little going forward against the Zambian side and promised changes before the return match:

"We have to be more impactful, more offensive. It's the first game since the start of the season where we have created so few chances, but it's not a habit. We are going to put something in place to allow us to reverse the result. For sure, we need to change something to create more chances. Normally, we create more chances in PSL. It's the first time that we didn't create a lot of chances, so we need to analyse and after we need to change something to be able to qualify."

Kaizer Chiefs now need a 1-0 win in the return leg to level the aggregate score and force extra time, while a victory by a two-goal margin would send them through to the group stage. It is worth noting that Red Arrows scored the only goal of the first leg in the 77th minute through captain Alassane Diarra.

Reminder: A battle-ready squad heads to Zambia. Kaizer Chiefs name their CAF Confederation Cup squad