Cape Town - Attacking midfielder Goodman Mosele is the one Orlando Pirates player who continues to shine on the continental stage as the team have worked their way, against all expectations, to the Caf Confederation Cup semi-finals.
On Sunday evening, Mosele, playing in his eighth Confederation Cup match, scored his maiden goal in the competition in his team’s
2-0 win over Libya’s Al Ahli Tripoli in their first leg semi-final clash at the Martyrs of February Stadium in Benghazi.
To date, the 22-year-old Mosele, who has one cap for Bafana Bafana, boasts two assists in this season’s Confederation Cup.
On Sunday evening, he was head and shoulders above any other player on the field and will be doubt feature in Hugo Broos’ plans when the time comes for national team selection.
Mosele worked like a trojan all evening making sure he was freed
up to join the attack when the team set off on sorties from deep. His link play was outstanding, and his teammates up front could have been on target had they exploited his service.
Closely behind Mosele in terms of making an impact on the match was left-back Innocent Maela who helped himself to an early goal. It was also his maiden goal in the competition. He has a penchant for joining the attack when opportunity beckons, without shirking his duties on defence.
Apart from Mosele and Maela, there were a clutch of players like right-back Abel Mabaso, central defender, captain Happy Jele and rightwing Deon Hotto who were impressive. The only Pirates player to have an off night was Thembinkosi Lorch who was used as a striker in the team’s 4-3-3 formation. He was replaced by Siphesihle Ndlovu in the second half.
One Pirates player who could have proved valuable and has proved his worth on the continental stage before is striker Gabadinho Mhango. He has fallen out of favour with co-coaches Fadlu Davids and Mandla Ncikazi.
He produced star performances for his country Malawi at the African Cup of Nations in Cameroon earlier this year, and should have been an automatic choice for the team on his return. Pirates have not given a reason why the player has been left to kick his heels on the sidelines for most of the season.
In limited appearances, he has shown that he can be an asset and his best ability was to bring a spark to the team’s attacks when he joined the fray, usually as a second-half substitution.
The Malawian media over the weekend reported that Mhango will be leaving Pirates after the two parties agreed to part ways at a recent meeting. He was brought to the club by agent Mike Makaab, a former Pirates’ coach in 2019.
After Sunday’s win, Pirates are favoured to repeat their performance in the second leg this weekend at Orlando Stadium.
However, Pirates will be hoping that their three-prong attack will be on target in front of the Buccaneers faithful. Although Hotto and Kwame Peprah had good games their primary task is to score, and they failed.
In the other half of the Confederation Cup draw, TP Mazembe (the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and RSB Berkane of Morocco are playing for a slot in the final. TP Mazembe won the first leg of their semi-final 1-0.
@Herman_Gibbs