“I will not stand here and tell you that I am afraid of them; I am still not afraid of the Orlando Pirates.”
Keagan Dolly, a midfielder for Kaizer Chiefs, directed these assertive and daring words at their fierce rivals Pirates.
He was speaking at a media briefing held at the Maslow Hotel in Sandton, Johannesburg, on Thursday, ahead of the Soweto derby on Saturday afternoon. Kick-off time is at 3:30pm.
Amakhosi and Bucs will be battling it out for maximum points and, most importantly, bragging rights in the DStv Premiership encounter at the FNB Stadium.
Dolly is not focusing on the past
Dolly, who has previously come out to say that he is not afraid of the Sea Robbers, said that despite losing his first derby in 2023, he still stands by his comment that he is not scared of playing against their bitter rivals.
“We obviously lost the first derby, but there is no way that I will stand here and tell you that I am afraid of them,” Dolly said.
“I am not going to lie to you guys [journalists] and look good on camera and say I am afraid of them, and as should their players not be afraid of us. It’s a derby; it’s a football match, so we should go out there and compete.
“As it stands, I still played five, won four and nothing is going to change; it’s facts. But the most important thing is for us to not focus on the Pirates and what happened in the past.
“We are on a good run in the league, playing eight and conceding one goal. For us, it is to just start converting chances and keep playing each and every game to win.”
Praise for Wandile Duba
Dolly also weighed in on Wandile Duba’s recent remarks about the Buccaneers, when he confidently said after his spectacular goal against the Golden Arrows on Tuesday that “they should expect me because I’m coming”.
Said Dolly: “Duba is a fantastic player, and he has proven himself in the DDC [DStv Diski Challenge] by scoring lots of goals, and on Tuesday he saved us by scoring the winning goal.
“He has the confidence, and we need players like that at Kaizer Chiefs — players who are confident and have the good work ethic that he showed against the Golden Arrows.
“So, hopefully the confidence that he has will keep him going, and he can prove himself against the Pirates this weekend.”
