Katsande: People said Kaizer Chiefs are a lower-league team

Kaizer Chiefs midfielder Willard Katsande has explained how the club has learnt from its previous failures in the Caf Champions League.

Prior to this season's remarkable African campaign, the Glamour Boys had never even made it past the opening group phase of the continent's most prestigious club competition.

Their run all the way to the final is even more impressive when considering how the team has struggled in the domestic league. They have also had to battle with a Fifa transfer ban, and had the season disrupted further when head coach Gavin Hunt was fired at the end of May.

As such, long-serving midfielder Willard Katsande is pleased to have been able to prove the doubters wrong, and he believes this season's Caf success has been earned over the years.

“People said we are a lower-league team and said we haven't played a match in a long time," Katsande was quoted saying by IOL.

"In the past, we went out in the early rounds of the Champions League. We used the experience because we kept on learning and this season was the turning point in terms of our Champions League fortunes,” added the 35-year-old Zimbabwean.

Amakhosi have certainly been the surprise package in the latter stages of the competition, and booked their spot in the final with a 4-3 aggregate win over Simba SC in the quarter-finals, before edging out 2017 Champions League winners Wydad Casablanca in the semis.

“Nobody gave us a chance in the group stages. People had mixed feelings about us and we felt the pain of our supporters after losing 4-0 to Wydad in the group stages. We were not doing well domestically and gave our supporters a bad impression. We kept going until the results came,” added Katsande.

The Soweto outfit will be heavy underdogs in the final against Al Ahly in Casablanca on July 17 – Pitso Mosimane’s side are defending champions and are chasing a tenth continental crown.