Kaizer Chiefs head coach Fernando da Cruz has voiced his disappointment following his team's elimination from the CAF Confederation Cup, blaming poor finishing for their failure to overcome Zambian side Red Arrows in the preliminary round.

Amakhosi entered Friday night's second-leg encounter under pressure after suffering a 1-0 defeat in Zambia. The Soweto-based club needed a strong performance at home to overturn the deficit and keep their hopes of advancing to the competition's group stage alive.

Despite creating several promising scoring opportunities, Chiefs struggled to turn their attacking pressure into goals. Their inability to finish clinically ultimately proved costly, leaving the team unable to secure the result required to progress.

Speaking after the match, Da Cruz expressed his frustration with the outcome, maintaining that his players had controlled much of the encounter and generated enough chances to win comfortably.

“We dominated all the game, we created a lot of chances,” Da Cruz said.

The coach acknowledged that the result was particularly difficult to accept because he believed his side had performed well enough in open play to secure victory. However, missed opportunities prevented Chiefs from capitalising on their dominance, forcing the tie to be decided by a penalty shootout.

“We lost the game on penalties, but we actually lost it before because we created a lot of chances,” he added.

Da Cruz further emphasised that his team's attacking performance should have produced a more convincing scoreline, given the number of opportunities created throughout the match.

“We only scored one goal, normally we must win this game 3-0 or 4-0,” he said.

His comments underline the importance of improving the team's efficiency in front of goal, particularly in knockout competitions where every missed opportunity can have serious consequences. Although Chiefs demonstrated their ability to create attacking chances, their failure to convert those openings ultimately contributed to their continental disappointment.

The elimination will be a major setback for the club and its supporters, who had hoped that playing at home would help the team recover from the first-leg defeat in Zambia.

With their Confederation Cup campaign now over, Chiefs must turn their attention to their domestic commitments. Da Cruz and his technical team will need to address the team's finishing problems and ensure that similar mistakes do not continue to undermine their performances.

Fernando da Cruz Blames Poor Finishing as Kaizer Chiefs Crash Out of CAF Confederation Cup

https://x.com/iDiskiTimes/status/2113700848077320229