AmaZulu FC coach Pablo Franco Martin has backed goalkeeper Veli Mothwa following a costly mistake against Polokwane City FC on Saturday in a Betway Premiership tie.
Usuthu lost the match 2-1 against Rise and Shine at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.
One of the talking points was the incident that led to Polokwane City’s second goal in the dying minutes of the match. This is after the ball slipped through Mothwa’s hand and found a Polokwane City player who slotted the ball home.
The 33-year-old was also under scrutiny after a similar mistake while playing for Bafana Bafana against Uganda. He was dropped by coach Hugo Broos for the clash against South Sudan five days later in the 2025 AFCON qualifiers.
PABLO FRANCO MARTIN COMES TO THE DEFENSE OF HIS GOALKEEPER AFTER SLOPPY MISTAKE
But his coach at club level insists there is no reason to dwell on his goalkeeper’s blunder.
“Everybody saw what happened at that last goal, and it’s clear that it’s a mistake. But we also made so many mistakes with our attacking players,” he said.
“In the end, it’s the same value when you are conceding a goal and when you are not scoring. Today, we had five clear chances to score goals and hit the post, but nobody is talking about the offensive players. So sometimes I think you guys [journalists] are a little bit unfair. But I understand that it sells more newspapers, and people pay more attention to social media when you post about these things.”
VELI MOTHWA BACKED TO BOUNCE BACK DESPITE A COSTLY ERROR
“It’s a pity, but he is our main goalkeeper. He has been the only player since I came here who has always been with Bafana Bafana, and that is because of something. Now, we need to see if he can get back to his level as soon as possible. He was having a good game until that moment. It’s true that an unlucky situation, and in the end, it cost us one point,” added Martin.
“One of the positive things [about AmaZulu] is that we are a team. We win, lose and work together. When one player makes a mistake, the other players are behind him, trying to encourage him. But I am repeating, it was not the only mistake of the game.”
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