Kaizer Chiefs have confirmed the much-anticipated appointment of Mohamed Nasreddine Nabi to the position of head coach of the men’s senior team. The two parties have agreed on a two-year contract with an option to extend it by one year.
“After what has been a fairly exhaustive vetting process, it gives us great pleasure to finally welcome our new head coach to Kaizer Chiefs,” said Amakhosi Sporting Director, Kaizer Motaung Jr.
“We believe we have found the right man to fulfil our vision of restoring Amakhosi to our rightful place at the top of the football pyramid, and we welcome coach Nabi and his technical team with the pledge of unity and support in pursuit of our common goal.”
The highly-respected Tunisian-born Nabi comes to Amakhosi with a wealth of experience under his belt, having coached top teams in various countries, including Libya, DR Congo, Egypt, Sudan, UAE, Tanzania and, more recently, Morocco. He has won silverware in several countries and participated with distinction in African Club competitions over the years.
Among his many accolades, the coach is also a CAF Confederation Cup winner with FC Leopards in Congo.
The 58-year-old, who holds a Uefa Pro coaching licence, brings with him a new technical support team, comprised of expert professionals who have worked with top-flight outfits in Africa and other continents.
They are Khalil Ben Youssef, who will serve as first assistant coach. He worked with coach Nabi recently at AS Far where they qualified the team for the CAF Champions League after finishing as league runners-up in Morocco. He worked with Nabi at Young Africans in Tanzania when they won back-to-back trebles. He will work closely with coaches Nabi and the second assistant, Fernando Da Cruz.
Fernando Da Cruz has been appointed as second assistant coach. Just like the boss Nabi, coach Cruz has a Uefa Pro licence. The French-born Da Cruz has also worked in different countries as a coach, technical director, scout and a youth coach, in countries such as Belgium, France and Morocco.
Then Ilyes Mzoughi joins Amakhosi as goalkeeping coach. He possesses extensive experience, having worked with a number of teams in Africa and the Middle East. He also worked as the goalkeeper coach for the Mauritanian national team. He has worked at Tunisian football Club Esperance de Tunis and also held Jobs in UAE, Saudi Arabia and Libya.
Mzoughi teams up with Khalil Ben Youssef and Majdi Safi once again after working with them at Stade Tunisien during the 2019/20 season.
Amakhosi also strengthened the team with the appointment of Safi Majdi as strength and conditioning coach and assistant coach. Majdi worked with some of the top footballers in some of the leading teams in Africa. He worked with Etoile du Sahel in Tunisia when they won the league at 2022/23. He also worked with Raja Casablanca and Wydad Athletic in Morocco.
The new technical staff have hit the ground running and are all currently in Türkiye conducting the pre-season training camp, where they are assessing the overall state of the playing squad and devising methods and strategies to steer the team in a progressive direction.
“We welcome coach Nabi and his technical team to Amakhosi. We wish them all the best and look forward to a much improved 2024/25 season,” said Amakhosi in a statement.