FCSB defender Siyabonga Ngezana admits it was pleasing to make his full debut in a sold-out stadium while the club’s President Gigi Becali was left ‘surprised’.
Ngezana came off the bench two weeks ago as they went a man down in their 2-1 defeat to UTA Arad which also saw them lose influential defender Vlad Chiricheș to a long-term injury.
It opened the door for the Kaizer Chiefs defender, who joined the club in a 600,000 euro move during the off-season to stake his claim and so he did in the 3-0 win over title-challenges Universitatea Craiova.
“I am happy that the team did not concede a goal. It is not easy to change the country, I needed time to adapt. It was not easy for me to sit on the bench, but I thought my opportunity would come,” he told Digi Sport.
I hope I played a good match today. It’s not easy for me. It’s a dream for me to be able to play in Europe. I felt good, it was a motivation to play in a full stadium. For the players, it’s nice to see the stadiums filled up.”
Becali was asked if losing the former Tottenham and Napoli defender Chiricheș was tempting him to go into the market, but he stated Ngezana is ‘better’ than the Romania national team captain.
“I was surprised to see that Ngezana is even better than Chiricheș. I was very impressed by Ngezana,” he said, as per PlaySport.
“He has strength, there’s nothing you can do about him. You pass him, he speeds up, he catches up and stops you. Ngezana, [Joyskim] Dawa, and a couple of central defenders will certainly remain [at the club].
“Even if Chiricheş recovers. Ngezana has a quickness that I really like. That’s incredible. [He] will get better and better. He did not let Andrei Ivan breathe.”
Ngezana will now be aiming to continue impressing the club during the FIFA international break before returning to league action against Farul on 17 September.
