Kaizer Chiefs have started their off-season training in earnest after they got their preparations for the coming Betway Premiership underway. Amakhosi arrived safely in the Netherlands on Friday after an 11-hour direct flight from Johannesburg.
The team has settled down nicely and the players enjoyed a loosening-up session in Apeldoorn on Friday night, where they will be based for the next two weeks for their off-season preparations.
“This is my ninth time in the Netherlands. I slept well in the plane,” Chiefs striker Tashreeq Morris said after the light training session.
The striker came through the Ajax Cape Town Academy and visited Holland each year with the various youth sides from the age of 12. The last time was a trial at Ajax Amsterdam for two weeks, one week with the first team and one with Young Ajax, the club’s reserve side.
“The country is beautiful,” Morris added, “I am also looking forward to the friendly matches against top Dutch sides.”
Training matches
Chiefs will play five training matches in the second week of the camp; against Vitesse, FC Utrecht, NEC Nijmegen, PEC Zwolle and FC Twente.
Reeve Frosler, meanwhile, has recovered from his dislocated shoulder bone injury, which he sustained in the match against Cape Town City in March.
It meant that Frosler didn’t have much of an off-season as the wing-back visited the High Performance Centre at Chiefs Village five times a week to be fully recovered ahead of the pre-season training camp.
Frosler, who joined Chiefs in 2019, was also with the squad for the pre-season camp in Turkey. “Now, it’s Holland. It’s still early days to compare. I like it that we know this year exactly who we will be playing against. Besides that, the environment where we stay is very nice. Very quiet, also. Pre-season [training] is always so important, as that’s where you lay the foundation for the season. The atmosphere in the camp is excellent. Pre-season is hard work, but we are ready for it,” he added.
Fresh talent blooded in
Meanwhile, Chiefs’ blueprint for strengthening the squad ahead of the new 2025/26 season continues to take shape with the acquisition of Siphesihle Ndlovu.
Previously with SuperSport United, for whom he played 28 matches in all competitions last season, the energetic midfielder will add skill and valuable experience to Amakhosi’s midfield. The 28-year-old, who was born in Pietermaritzburg, is set to join his new teammates in the Netherlands within the new few days once all the travel arrangements have been finalised.
