{"id":1790,"date":"2026-07-07T13:01:29","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T11:01:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/?p=1790"},"modified":"2026-07-07T13:01:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T11:01:31","slug":"kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/07\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\/","title":{"rendered":"Kalou places hopes on Chiefs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former Chelsea and Ivory Coast star Salomon Kalou has urged Kaizer Chiefs to make a challenge for the 2026\/27 Betway Premiership crown amid competition from Mamelodi Sundowns and reigning kings Orlando Pirates.<\/p>\n<p>The ex-Premier League regular also explained that the PSL is played a high standards among top leagues in Africa, particularly after Pirates ended Sundowns dominant reign in the league.<\/p>\n<p>Kalou also expressed that a more \u2018competitive\u2019 league will aid Bafana Bafana\u2019s progression in the near future.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe PSL level is good, it is high,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.citizen.co.za\/sport\/soccer\/local-soccer\/kalou-hope-chiefs-win-next-year\/\" target=\"_blank\">Kalou told the Citizen<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p> \u201cThe team that won the Champions League is from the PSL (Sundowns). It is a matter for me of how the other teams compete. OK, Pirates are the new (Premiership) champions after many years. But the same team has been winning and you need to balance that.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI hope Chiefs will win next year, and that will create more competition between the big teams.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou also have young teams who can create surprises, like Stellenbosch coming in. Those are the ways of getting the league even more exciting. The talent is there, it is just about development and structure so that the players become even more experienced and better with the national team.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA more competitive league will benefit the national team.\u201d  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Chelsea and Ivory Coast star Salomon Kalou has urged Kaizer Chiefs to make a challenge for the 2026\/27 Betway Premiership crown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":1791,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[55,57],"class_list":["post-1790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-betway-premiership","tag-kaizer-chiefs"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Kalou places hopes on Chiefs - GoalMzansi.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Former Chelsea and Ivory Coast star Salomon Kalou has urged Kaizer Chiefs to make a challenge for the 2026\/27 Betway Premiership crown.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/07\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kalou places hopes on Chiefs - GoalMzansi.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Chelsea and Ivory Coast star Salomon Kalou has urged Kaizer Chiefs to make a challenge for the 2026\/27 Betway Premiership crown.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/07\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GoalMzansi.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/web.facebook.com\/GoalMzansi\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-07T11:01:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-07T11:01:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Salomon-Kalou_800.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"800\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"601\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"GoalMzansi.com\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@GoalMzansi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@GoalMzansi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"GoalMzansi.com\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/07\\\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/07\\\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"GoalMzansi.com\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/db5d4fb9346c2c03b4f83f899826d1fa\"},\"headline\":\"Kalou places hopes on Chiefs\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-07T11:01:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-07T11:01:31+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/07\\\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":217,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/07\\\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/Salomon-Kalou_800.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Betway Premiership\",\"Kaizer Chiefs\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Local News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/07\\\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/07\\\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\\\/\",\"name\":\"Kalou places hopes on Chiefs - GoalMzansi.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/07\\\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/07\\\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/Salomon-Kalou_800.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-07T11:01:29+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-07T11:01:31+00:00\",\"description\":\"Former Chelsea and Ivory Coast star Salomon Kalou has urged Kaizer Chiefs to make a challenge for the 2026\\\/27 Betway Premiership crown.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/07\\\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/07\\\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/07\\\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/Salomon-Kalou_800.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/Salomon-Kalou_800.jpg\",\"width\":800,\"height\":601},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/07\\\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kalou places hopes on Chiefs\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"GoalMzansi.com\",\"description\":\"From Mzansi to the World \u2014 The Game Lives Here.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"GoalMzansi.com\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/cropped-cropped-GM-Banner-03-scaled-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2025\\\/10\\\/cropped-cropped-GM-Banner-03-scaled-1.jpg\",\"width\":2145,\"height\":941,\"caption\":\"GoalMzansi.com\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/web.facebook.com\\\/GoalMzansi\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/GoalMzansi\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.tiktok.com\\\/@goalmzansi.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/goal_mzansi\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/@GoalMzansi\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/db5d4fb9346c2c03b4f83f899826d1fa\",\"name\":\"GoalMzansi.com\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-ZA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/88b3518655735208b5fd08ce061f9c422f211831382d9f1e4db91d498cd7f670?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/88b3518655735208b5fd08ce061f9c422f211831382d9f1e4db91d498cd7f670?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/88b3518655735208b5fd08ce061f9c422f211831382d9f1e4db91d498cd7f670?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"GoalMzansi.com\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/goalmzansi.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/goalmzansi-com\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kalou places hopes on Chiefs - GoalMzansi.com","description":"Former Chelsea and Ivory Coast star Salomon Kalou has urged Kaizer Chiefs to make a challenge for the 2026\/27 Betway Premiership crown.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/07\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kalou places hopes on Chiefs - GoalMzansi.com","og_description":"Former Chelsea and Ivory Coast star Salomon Kalou has urged Kaizer Chiefs to make a challenge for the 2026\/27 Betway Premiership crown.","og_url":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/07\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\/","og_site_name":"GoalMzansi.com","article_publisher":"https:\/\/web.facebook.com\/GoalMzansi\/","article_published_time":"2026-07-07T11:01:29+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-07-07T11:01:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":800,"height":601,"url":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Salomon-Kalou_800.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"GoalMzansi.com","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@GoalMzansi","twitter_site":"@GoalMzansi","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"GoalMzansi.com","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/07\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/07\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\/"},"author":{"name":"GoalMzansi.com","@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/#\/schema\/person\/db5d4fb9346c2c03b4f83f899826d1fa"},"headline":"Kalou places hopes on Chiefs","datePublished":"2026-07-07T11:01:29+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-07T11:01:31+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/07\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\/"},"wordCount":217,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/07\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Salomon-Kalou_800.jpg","keywords":["Betway Premiership","Kaizer Chiefs"],"articleSection":["Local News"],"inLanguage":"en-ZA"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/07\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\/","url":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/07\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\/","name":"Kalou places hopes on Chiefs - GoalMzansi.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/07\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/07\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Salomon-Kalou_800.jpg","datePublished":"2026-07-07T11:01:29+00:00","dateModified":"2026-07-07T11:01:31+00:00","description":"Former Chelsea and Ivory Coast star Salomon Kalou has urged Kaizer Chiefs to make a challenge for the 2026\/27 Betway Premiership crown.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/07\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-ZA","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/07\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/07\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Salomon-Kalou_800.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Salomon-Kalou_800.jpg","width":800,"height":601},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/07\/kalou-places-hopes-on-chiefs\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kalou places hopes on Chiefs"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/","name":"GoalMzansi.com","description":"From Mzansi to the World \u2014 The Game Lives Here.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-ZA"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/#organization","name":"GoalMzansi.com","url":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/cropped-cropped-GM-Banner-03-scaled-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/cropped-cropped-GM-Banner-03-scaled-1.jpg","width":2145,"height":941,"caption":"GoalMzansi.com"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/web.facebook.com\/GoalMzansi\/","https:\/\/x.com\/GoalMzansi","https:\/\/www.tiktok.com\/@goalmzansi.com","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/goal_mzansi\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@GoalMzansi"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/#\/schema\/person\/db5d4fb9346c2c03b4f83f899826d1fa","name":"GoalMzansi.com","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-ZA","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88b3518655735208b5fd08ce061f9c422f211831382d9f1e4db91d498cd7f670?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88b3518655735208b5fd08ce061f9c422f211831382d9f1e4db91d498cd7f670?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88b3518655735208b5fd08ce061f9c422f211831382d9f1e4db91d498cd7f670?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"GoalMzansi.com"},"url":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/author\/goalmzansi-com\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1790","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1790"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1790\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1792,"href":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1790\/revisions\/1792"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}