NEW AmaZulu signing Ovidy Karuru feels vindicated in his decision to leave Kaizer Chiefs at the end of last season, having felt his progression as a footballer was under threat.
Karuru joined Amakhosi at the start of 2014/15 campaign under then coach Stuart Baxter from OH Leuven of Belgium, but he failed to hit the ground running at Naturena and found himself way down the pecking order by the time Steve Komphela took over the coaching reins.
The 28-year-old subsequently departed Chiefs before joining Usuthu in this year’s transfer window, signing a one-and-half-year with the KwaZulu-Natal outfit.
To many, leaving Chiefs after just one year sounds like an opportunity lost, but Karuru is convinced he made the right decision.
“It wasn’t difficult [to leave Chiefs] because if you’re not playing, you’re not progressing,” Karuru tells KickOff.com.
“For me, it was okay to leave. I have no hard feelings that I left the club without playing much. The only thing I need to work on now is to get back to my fitness and then we’ll take it from there.
“Also, I can’t blame anyone for that because at the end of the day the coach [Steve Komphela] is the one who makes decisions, so maybe I was not doing enough at training so I can’t blame anyone for that.

“But from my point of view, I wanted the game time also, one or two then to see if I fail but I didn’t get that, and the only game I’d get were only cup games.”
Karuru missed Usuthu’s first game of the year, against University of Pretoria, as he was waiting for his SA work permit, before finally making his debut against Mthatha Bucksonly to suffer a cut to his forehead which kept him out of this past weekend’s clash against log leaders Thanda Royal Zulu.
AmaZulu next host Real Kings United at Princes Magogo Stadium on Sunday, where gate proceeds will go towards the running of the legacy programme initiated by club great Cedric “Sugar Ray” Xulu, and fans can expect a fun-filled day plenty of entertainment for the family.
And Karuru, who went to Germany and Turkey in January in a bid to reignite his career, feels Usuthu have a chance to be promoted to the Absa Premiership at the end of the season.Advertisement

“This team’s got a really good chance of getting promotion and that’s why I came here,” he added.
“I’m one hundred percent sure that if we don’t get the number-one spot we’ll get a playoff spot with the experience of the likes of ‘Bhele’ [Siyabonga Nomvethe] and Mabhudi Khenyeza.”