The tough-tackling player said glimpses of brilliance by the team during the pre-season were buoying his projections ahead of the 2011/12 season which kicks off early August.
Chiefs, who are fresh from inspiring performances in the preseason Vodacom Challenge, where Nengomsaha is one of the veterans of the decade-old competition, have not won the title in more than six years.
During that drought Pretoria sides Mamelodi Sundowns and Supersport United have dominated, while last season bitter Soweto rivals walked away with the title and the two major cup competitions on offer.
Nengomasha, one of the longest serving Chiefs players, believes this is about to change following a hive of preseason activity.
“We need to use this time so that the coaching department can see where we need to improve, physically, tactically and technically. We saw that before the 2003/2004 season, the team played in a lot of competitive friendly matches and when the season began we were on a good level to compete with the rest of the teams and won the league,” the player, a winner of two league titles with Chiefs said in an interview.
The 1-0 victory over visiting Tottenham Hotspur in the Vodacom Challenge also props up the midfielder’s forecast.
“Spurs are a fantastic team with some of the best players in the world. We know that the game we played against them was a friendly match and we understand that the victory was in an exhibition game. It is important though. When you get the opportunity to play against teams like Spurs you make the most of it and are as competitive possible. Also I played twice before against them so it was nice to finally put one over them.”
Nengomasha, one of Chiefs’ key players over the seasons is aware of the pain Amakhosi fans have endured during the dry league spell and says the team will work hard to salvage major accolades this coming season.
“Our motto this coming season is ‘Rise Khosi Rise’ and we will do our best to rise up to the challenge. We have been working hard in the pre-season camp.”
Chiefs’ season starts with an MTN 8 quarterfinal clash against unpredictable Wits. Their league campaign is against returnees Jomo Cosmos at the end of August.
Post published in: Football