Nabi Praises Silva’s Resilience After Debut Goal

Kaizer Chiefs coach Nasreddine Nabi has revealed that new signing Flavio Da Silva received significant support from the team after facing public criticism during the offseason.

Nabi expressed his delight in seeing the striker rewarded for his faith by scoring the winning goal against Golden Arrows at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in the Betway Premiership on Saturday.

Da Silva, a Guinea-Bissau international who arrived at the club with little fanfare, quickly became a topic of discussion after a preseason video of him went viral on social media during Chiefs’ preseason friendly in the Netherlands.

Many fans mocked the striker, suggesting that the club had made another mistake in its recruitment.

Despite being left on the bench for the previous match against Mamelodi Sundowns, Da Silva was introduced before the 60-minute mark against Arrows.

Just nine minutes later, Gaston Sirino, another substitute who arrived at the same time as Silva, cut the ball back in the box, and Da Silva made no mistake, slotting it past goalkeeper Xolani Ngcobo to score on his debut. He celebrated by taking off his shirt, earning a yellow card.

The 1-0 win saw Chiefs reclaim their second spot in the Betway Premiership with 13 points from five matches.

Impressively, Amakhosi have yet to concede a goal this season, with Sekhukhune United sitting in first place due to a superior goal difference.

Nabi spoke about the support provided to the new striker. “I think for Silva, from the beginning, he received a lot of support from the technical staff and from the players,” the coach said.

“At first, it was a problem with the paperwork, and then, when he was ready, it was about waiting for the right moment to introduce him to make it easier. Today [Saturday], we are so happy for him because I think he helped the team in this game.”

The victory over Arrows was also a form of revenge for Chiefs, who had lost to the Durban-based side twice at the same venue last season.