Phili & Co. leave Da Cruz ‘proud’ after Downs draw
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Phili & Co. leave Da Cruz ‘proud’ after Downs draw
Aug 15, 2026 – 05:47 pm
By Kickoff writer
Kaizer Chiefs coach Fernando Da Cruz hailed the performance of his team in the 1-1 draw against Mamelodi Sundowns at the FNB Stadium on Saturday.
The Amakhosi, who sit on the top of the table, were buoyed ahead of the match after a perfect start to the season and threatened victory in the second half when Langelihle Phili netted the opener.
However, the African champions bounced back in gallant fashion and salvaged a point courtesy of substitute Cassius Mailula as the Amakhosi lauded reducing their adversaries to minimum scoring chances during the match.
“We opened them because it was 1-0 for us, we concede one goal on set-pieces, but we need to say that it’s a good team they had a lot of the ball, but we did not concede a lot of chances. So, we were strong today we can be proud of the team,” Da Cruz told SuperSport TV.
The unavailability of a few key players despite the good display, and the inability to keep the ball better at the start of the second half to show more effect didn’t please the man steering the ship.
Phili, who arrived days to the start of the campaign from Stellenbosch FC, registered his first goal and put on a solid display all-round before being substituted, but he isn’t settled yet and still needs time to understand their model.
“We missed too much players today to play better, even it’s a good game. But I would have liked them to keep more of the ball in the beginning of the second half to put more enthuse on this team but I’m happy about the performance,” Da Cruz said.
“We thank Phili to make this type of performance, he is very good player. But he needs time again to understand our game model, but I’m very proud of the team because three games in six weeks with the same players amazing today. I’m very proud of the squad,” added the mentor.