Pablo Franco explains surprise goalkeeping change in AmaZulu’s last match

AmaZulu FC head coach Pablo Franco Martin has explained the surprise snub of Veli Mothwa with Olwethu Mzimela making his debut in their previous match against Mamelodi Sundowns.

Usuthu suffered a 1-0 home defeat to the DStv Premiership champions in a match that was played in a mild rain at the King Zwelithini Stadium on Wednesday last week.

The Spanish tactician surprisingly threw in a youngster Olwethu Mzimela, putting in the stands the Bafana Bafana goalkeeper Veli Mothwa who was reportedly available for selection.

The 22-year-old goalie, Mzimela, had a superb debut during the night, making fantastic saves against the Tshwane giants. However, he was beaten once by Lucas Ribeiro Costa from the spot with the Brazilian scoring the only goal of the match.

Martin insists Mothwa is still the club’s number-one goalkeeper, saying he rotates the squad. He says the stiff competition in the goalkeeping department will give him more options when he picks the line-up.

PABLO FRANCO MARTIN INSISTS MOTHWA IS STILL AMAZULU’S NUMBER-ONE GOALKEEPER

“Veli is our main goalkeeper and he’s our captain, just because of changing one day, nothing has changed,” Martin told the media.

“Veli is one of the three best goalkeepers in this league and that’s why he’s a player who’s representing us in the national team. But we have more players.

“It’s the same as the in-field players, maybe we have players who have a history with good performances like Veli who was performing at the beginning of the season. Sometimes, we are rotating them. 

“From there, I think that others need to value that we keep playing players who are coming from the grassroots, who are making debuts in the PSL.

“This is going to be [important] for the club and for the future. They are playing and performing because we think that this is the right moment and they are ready.

“Now, we have this competition in goals and that we have reliable goalkeepers and from there we have to decide every single game. And this is good for the goalkeeping department and for me as a head coach as well.

“And I think this is what we want, to have as many players in all positions as much as we can in order to compete and perform.”

RELATED STORY: AmaZulu FC fret over injury blow to in-form striker