Kaizer Chiefs star opens up on Orlando Pirates fans abuse, revealing 'I was attacked' and 'you can just imagine what was happening to me'

Kaizer Chiefs midfielder George Matlou was a subject of online assault after he simulated Dieumerci Mukoko's walking style. 

In what was seen as making fun of Pirates and their fans, Matlou suffered online bashing following his actions. During a Champions League second preliminary second-leg match between the Sea Robbers and Saint-Eloi Lupopo, Mukoko made news for his theatrics using his trademark walking style, something that the Amakhosi star recreated later. 

The midfielder, who signed for Amakhosi in 2022, has now opened up about the attacks he suffered, and he has said his focus is only on football and nothing else.

“I’m going to talk about myself because there was a moment I wasn’t playing, so you can just imagine you go on social media or anywhere,” Matlou said, as per iDsiki Times.

“So, you’ll see that now this one is not playing. Yes, I was attacked; things were said about me. So, you can just imagine what was happening to me.

“So, pressure is there, so you have to just maybe forget about what people say, and you know what you’re good at. So, focus on football," he added. 

“People always talk whether you do good or bad. So, as a professional player, you should know that if you play this game well, people will be happy.

“Next game, you have a bad game; they will still speak. So, forget about what people say and focus on your job and help your team to get the results and stuff.”

Matlou is among the players who have not regularly played for the Glamour Boys, mainly due to injuries. 

In fact, Chiefs co-coach Cedric Kaze said that the injury crisis has had an impact on them, including the inability to score goals.

"The lack of goals, I will put in context. I believe that when we started the second phase of the league, as well as the first phase of the league, we had so many injuries to important offensive players like [Glody Makabi] Lilepo and [Gaston] Sirino," Kaze said.  

"When you have one of your best offensive players being injured, you take a drop, but I’m pretty sure that with the games progressing, we will get better.

"We know why we will get better because now we have players that are coming back from injury: George Matlou, Thabo Cele, 'Ox' [Sibongiseni Mthethwa], and [Bradley] Cross," added the Burundian. 

"All those players are going to come with the quality that we need because sometimes you can’t even rotate too much."

After boosting their Confederation Cup chances with a double over Zesco United, Amakhosi will turn their focus to the Nedbank Cup campaign.  

The defending cup champions will face Stellenbosch, who are under their former coach, Gavin Hunt. The match has been slated to be played on February 4 at Cape Town Stadium.