Siyabonga Mpontshane's unimpressive performance in Orlando Pirates' 2-3 defeat to Al-Ittihad in the CAF Confederation Cup has once again escalated calls for the goalkeeper to be axed. But do Pirates really have an option?
Mpontshane made committed some amateurish blunders as Pirates were floored at Martyrs of February Stadium in Benina, Libya, on Sunday in the Group B match.
The Bucs keeper reacted late when Sanad Al Warfali opened the scoring in the 14th minute off a set-piece into the bottom right corner. He then failed to save Muad Eisay's striker from the bottom left corner for the second goal, again reacting too late.
Sunday's limp performance by the keeper triggered calls among The Ghost for Mpontshane to be axed as first choice goalkeeper. However, former Bucs goalkeeper Avril Phali, feels it would be disastrous to remove the veteran while his deputy Wayne Sandilands has yet to play a competitive match this season. Pirates' usual first choice, Richard Ofori, remains sidelined by injury.
“With [Richard] Ofori still injured and Sandilands having not played, goalkeeping is one of the sensitive departments, especially if you put someone who has not played for a while,” Phali explained to Sowetan yesterday.
“That counts a lot. I don’t think it will be right for the coaches to change him now after those errors.
“He has not done badly, and if you look, Pirates are second on the DStv Premiership log table and to change him now with the remaining matches would not be ideal.
“Let the coaches leave him to play, goalkeeping is a difficult thing and you cannot just change for the sake of changing. Sandilands has not played for a while and if the confidence is low, it may backfire. Mistakes are there in football, but I don’t think they should drop him.”
The retired goalie is confident that Mpontshane will dust himself off and bounce back to help the Soweto giants win matches again.
“He will bounce back. He has been playing for a long time. You recover from that. Once you hold back from those mistakes, you won’t come back,” Phali added.
“The secret in goalkeeping is once you make a mistake, don’t look at it, let it pass. Mpontshane must continue playing. His confidence is up there."
Pirates next face Royal AC of Swaziland on Sunday.
'Bucs have no choice but to persist with Mpontshane'
Phali says keeper must keep his place despite blunders
Image: Muzi Ntombela
Siyabonga Mpontshane's unimpressive performance in Orlando Pirates' 2-3 defeat to Al-Ittihad in the CAF Confederation Cup has once again escalated calls for the goalkeeper to be axed. But do Pirates really have an option?
Mpontshane made committed some amateurish blunders as Pirates were floored at Martyrs of February Stadium in Benina, Libya, on Sunday in the Group B match.
The Bucs keeper reacted late when Sanad Al Warfali opened the scoring in the 14th minute off a set-piece into the bottom right corner. He then failed to save Muad Eisay's striker from the bottom left corner for the second goal, again reacting too late.
Sunday's limp performance by the keeper triggered calls among The Ghost for Mpontshane to be axed as first choice goalkeeper. However, former Bucs goalkeeper Avril Phali, feels it would be disastrous to remove the veteran while his deputy Wayne Sandilands has yet to play a competitive match this season. Pirates' usual first choice, Richard Ofori, remains sidelined by injury.
“With [Richard] Ofori still injured and Sandilands having not played, goalkeeping is one of the sensitive departments, especially if you put someone who has not played for a while,” Phali explained to Sowetan yesterday.
“That counts a lot. I don’t think it will be right for the coaches to change him now after those errors.
“He has not done badly, and if you look, Pirates are second on the DStv Premiership log table and to change him now with the remaining matches would not be ideal.
“Let the coaches leave him to play, goalkeeping is a difficult thing and you cannot just change for the sake of changing. Sandilands has not played for a while and if the confidence is low, it may backfire. Mistakes are there in football, but I don’t think they should drop him.”
The retired goalie is confident that Mpontshane will dust himself off and bounce back to help the Soweto giants win matches again.
“He will bounce back. He has been playing for a long time. You recover from that. Once you hold back from those mistakes, you won’t come back,” Phali added.
“The secret in goalkeeping is once you make a mistake, don’t look at it, let it pass. Mpontshane must continue playing. His confidence is up there."
Pirates next face Royal AC of Swaziland on Sunday.
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