After FCSB’s elimination from the UEFA Champions League qualifying round, Siyabonga Ngezana was one of the few players spared from a scathing assessment by the club’s owner, Gigi Becali.
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The 28-time Romanian champions were eliminated 3-1 on aggregate in the second qualifying round of the Champions League at the hands of Macedonian side KF Shkëndija.
The loss is considered a big upset for the Red and Blues, who were European champions in 1986. Following the shock result, Becali was quick to protect the team's coach, Elias Charalambous, and instead unleashed a public criticism of the team, DigiSport reported.
"Oh, no, no, no. So what is Charalambous' fault that these guys aren't running on the field? No (no, he's not in danger)," he said.
Becali unleashed a scathing assessment of the team following the embarrassing loss.
"It doesn't suit players to run anymore; they don't want to," he said. "What's the point? They have money, and they bought apartments. Why run anymore? They have a few hundred thousand, that's it," he added.
"They don't have the stress of tomorrow, of the family. You have to know about fear, right? They don't have the ambitions of becoming millionaires anymore, then that's it," Becali continued.
Following the public criticism of his players, the owner then named four players whom he felt had performed admirably, which included the former Kaizer Chiefs man, DigiSport reported exclusively.
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"The only player who is truly 'hats off' is Cisotti, that's all!" he said. "And Chiricheș. The rest, we don't have. Come on, and Ngezana. But you can't win a match with just them. And Bîrligea, who gave his life, he concluded.
