Johannesburg – Kaizer Chiefs coach Ernst Middendorp has praised striker Samir Nurkovic after the hardworking Serbian delivered a man-of-the-match performance against Polokwane City on Saturday night.
Nurkovic scored his 13th goal of the season and had a hand in the two other strikes as Chiefs completed a remarkable comeback from 2-0 down to win 3-2.
Coach Middendorp was appreciative as the Absa Premiership leaders appeared to be heading for defeat until his players combined very well to claw their way back from the brink.
“There is no doubt that Nurkovic is a player who demonstrates the ambition and the spirit you need to influence the teammates and each and every player around him‚” Middendorp said.
“It is very important to look into it and he is one of our key players this season‚ he has made a huge contribution to a position that Kaizer Chiefs is in at the moment.”
Middendorp added that his players never dropped their heads even when they were 2-0 down.
“I haven’t seen players with their heads down‚ I haven’t seen what you are describing‚” he said.
“We have experienced players on the field like Daniel Cardoso‚ Khama Billiat and Eric Mathoho and Lazalous Kambole and Anthony Agay who are national team players.
“These are players who can handle being 1-0 or 2-0 down as we saw.”
