Ben Youssef blames inexperience for Kaizer Chiefs’ defeat in Egypt

Kaizer Chiefs co-coach Khalil Ben Youssef has attributed his side’s defeat away to Egyptian side Al Masry in the Caf Confederation Cup Group D opener at the weekend to a lack of experience.

Still, Ben Youssef said his charges are confident of bouncing back in their next fixture in the tournament, which will be at home.

Al Masry, whose best run in the Confederation Cup was reaching the semifinals in 2018, beat Chiefs 2-1 in Suez on Sunday.

Amakhosi goalkeeper and skipper Brandon Petersen conceded a penalty that resulted in the hosts’ opener in the 59th minute, while defender Inacio Miguel’s miscue in the 87th minute gifted Al Masry the winning goal.

Dillan Solomons was on target for Chiefs (66th minute), who are playing in the Confederation Cup group phase for the first time.

Amakhosi face another Egyptian side in the group phase — two-time winners Zamalek — at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday (3pm).

“I think more than 80% of our players were playing this type of competition for the first time. It [the Confederation Cup] is different from the PSL. It’s a competition where you need to be more focused and more aggressive,” Ben Youssef said.

“We were expecting the game to be tough for the two teams. I am happy about the performance of our players. I think we did very well.

“The only problem was [a lack of] experience. In this type of tournament, if you want to win, you can’t make the type of mistakes we made.”

Ben Youssef emphasised the importance of paying attention to small details in continental football as they aim to redeem themselves against Zamalek, the 2018-19 and 2023-24 Confed champions.

“It’s a high-level competition where small details are crucial. I have told the players we have to learn from our mistakes, we have to stay confident and continue to work hard.

“Zamalek are one of the best teams in Africa, and they also have a lot of experience in this type of competition. If we want to qualify for the knockout phase we can’t make mistakes in home games. We need to win all our home games.”