Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has justified why he opted to bring on Sinoxolo Kwayiba during Saturday’s Carling Knockout Cup semi-final clash with Richards Bay FC at a sold-out Moses Mabhida Stadium.
Tshepang Moremi’s first-half goal settled the affair to send the Buccaneers into the Beer Cup final on a 1-0 scoreline. It is a second cup final for Pirates this season, having already won the MTN8, as Ouaddou attempts to continue from where his predecessor, Jose Riveiro, left off as a cup specialist.
They now wait for Sunday’s winner between Golden Arrows and Marumo Gallants to know their opponents in the final.
Ouaddou has been rotating his squad, giving some players game opportunities after they initially struggled to get playing time.
Before Saturday’s match, Kwayiba was a fringe player with just three appearances under his belt in all competitions this season. But Ouaddou brought in the former Chippa United man at a crucial stage of the game as Pirates precariously hung on to a 1-0 lead.
It was a slim advantage which could have seen the Natal Rich Boyz hit back. Kwayiba came on for striker Yanela Mbuthuma in the 68th minute, and that was a period where left-back Dion Hotto was also introduced.
OUADDOU EXPLAINS HIS DECISION ON KWAYIBA
The former Fulham defender has turned to Kwayiba in a show of faith in the midfielder as he tried to close shop.
“Yes, like I told you, I wanted to bring some fresh legs to the team. I think the boys did well, but we’ve seen with the staff that we needed to sweep and make some changes in order to be more offensive,” Ouaddou said on SuperSport TV.
“We decided to bring Rele [Mofokeng] and one change that people maybe didn’t expect was Kwayiba because we saw that the central defenders [of Richards Bay] were coming with the ball and trying to break the lines, so we needed somebody to make the pressing there and Kwayiba did a fantastic job.”
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