Asante Kotoko head coach Karim Zito praises Mzansi football after outclassing Kaizer Chiefs to win Toyota Cup - ' South Africans play like Europeans, not like the other countries'

Asante Kotoko head coach Karim Zito has praised South African football and compared it with soccer played in Europe.

Zito made the comments after he guided his side to win the Toyota Cup against Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday at the Moses Mabhida Stadium.

“I have to be honest, seriously, South Africans play like Europeans, not like the other countries [in Africa]; they don’t chase you, they let you chase them. I know it because I studied this when I went to Europe. I’m in development, professionally,” Zito told SABC Sports.

“So Chiefs didn’t play badly, but the luck was on our side… At the end of the day, the element of luck wasn’t there for them; we were lucky to win. But everyone wants to be lucky—I’m very happy, because tactically we worked on our plan and it worked,” he added.

The tactician also revealed what influenced the tactics that he deployed against Chiefs.

“When it comes to winning, at the end of the day, I’m satisfied with my boys – but tactically, I’m also satisfied, because I know this process; with the new players, I didn’t get what I wanted, but at least certain responsibilities [they got right]," Zito explained.

“I was looking at it for them to do it, and at the end of the day, I knew we’d win by one or it would go to a draw. We didn’t attack too much, but defensively, we were ready. I don’t have to match them; they were ahead in terms of preparation [in pre-season]. In terms of cohesion, they are ahead of us," he added.

“We didn’t train for three days, so we knew we’d get tired, so we sat back – that’s what makes you a good coach; you read the opponent and try to come up with a strategy that will suit your team.”

Kotoko denied Chiefs the Toyota Cup glory by winning the contest in the penalty shootout. This marks the second time that Amakhosi failed to win the cup.

The defeat comes after the Glamour Boys finished their pre-season tour in the Netherlands, where they faced Vitesse, Utrecht, NEC Nijmegen, PEC Zwolle, and Twente and only registered one win.

Despite the praise from the Kotoko tactician, Nasreddine Nabi has some work to do to make Chiefs more competitive before the season begins.

Amakhosi will not take part in the MTN8 tournament, and that means they have extra days of fine-tuning themselves before the 2025/26 season begins.