Chipezeze: Making the fans happy matters more

Elvis Chipezeze insisted personal accolades are secondary after delivering another Man-of-the-Match performance to help Magesi beat Mamelodi Sundowns 2-1 on Saturday to claim a historic Carling Knockout title.

Calling Clinton Larsen’s side the underdogs for the final was un understatement as not many had given the Betway Premiership newcomers a chance against the titans of South African football.

However, Dikwena tsa Meetse pulled off yet another gaint-killing act courtesy of second-half goals from Tshepo Kakora (48′) and Delano Abrahams (87′) after Iqraam Rayners had given the Brazilians the lead on 36 minutes.

Chipezeze had also been awarded Man of the Match in the previous three cup-ties against Orlando Pirates, TS Galaxy and Richards Bay, earning him a total of R400,000 in prize money.

But the Zimbabwean goalkeeper stressed that bringing joy to the club’s fans far outweighed all those awards as Magesi added another trophy to their cabinet after winning the Motsepe Foundation Championship last season.

“I’m just grateful to the fans. These people pay their hard-earned money to come and watch us play. At the end of the day, we have to return the favor to them by giving performances like today. As long as they’re smiling, I’m happy,” he told SuperSport after the match.

“Personal accolades might come, but I have to make sure that the fans are happy all the time.”

Chipezeze revealed that all the hard work Larsen had put the players through in recent weeks paid off handsomely as they overcame a star-studded Sundowns team at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein.

“We knew Sundowns had six players coming from Bafana Bafana – quality players like [Lucas] Ribeiro, [Marcelo] Allende and [Peter] Shalulile. We just thought it’s a one-off game, anything can happen. We went out there to create history,” he added.

“We knew we were the underdogs, no-one expected us to win, to be quite frank. But credit must go to the boys. The coach has been drilling us – sometimes it felt like too much – but these are the results you see today.”