In the Mthombeni household, the dinner table is usually a ‘Sea of Robbers’. But on a historic night at the Orlando Amstel Arena, blood wasn’t thicker than a clean sheet.
Casric Stars pulled off a Nedbank Cup heist for the ages, dragging heavyweights Orlando Pirates through 120 scoreless minutes before clinching a 5-4 sudden-death penalty shootout victory. At the heart of the drama was goalkeeper Wandile Tshigwana Mthombeni, who spent the evening defying both the Pirates’ strikers and his own childhood allegiances.
For Casric chairman and head coach Bucs Mthombeni, the victory was a professional masterclass wrapped in a domestic comedy. Despite his name, a direct nod to the Soweto giants, Mthombeni spent the post-match briefing debunking the myth of his own fandom and acknowledging the “black and white” elephant in the room.
“My late mom was a number one Pirates fan,” Mthombeni reflected, tracing the lineage of the family’s obsession back to his late uncle, Moses Mahlangu, a close associate of SA football legend Jomo Sono. “He recruited most of my family to support Pirates. But I was the only neutral one because I wanted to pursue my dream of coaching.”
โI WAS THE ONLY NEUTRAL ONEโโ BUCS MTHOMBENI CLEARS THE AIR ON PIRATES ALLEGIANCE
Although the coach maintains a professional distance, the rest of the Mthombeni clan has not.
Casric’s 25-year-old goalkeeper, Tshigwana Mthombeni, is a self-confessed Ghost who haunted his own idols with a Man of the Match performance. Mlondi Mthombeni, the coachโs other son, a staunch Pirates recruiter, and a brother so conflicted he refused to attend, watched from home to avoid the existential crisis of cheering against his kin or his club.
There is a poetic irony in Tshigwana Mthombeni’s performance. In a country where footballing loyalties are often inherited like surnames, the young keeper had to set aside his sentimentality for survival.
“The players had some doubt about him starting,” the chairman admitted. “They asked if I was sure he would give it his all. I joked that his job would be on the line if he didn’t commit, but in truth, the professional stakes were always clear.”
MTHOMBENI EXPLAINS THE PLAN TO STIFLE TITO AND RELE
But beyond the personal narratives of the Mthombeni family, the result at the Orlando Amstel Arena was a product of meticulous midweek scouting. The Casric chairman attended Piratesโ previous outing against Mamelodi Sundowns, which informed his observations and led to a rigid defensive structure. By identifying the specific threat posed by Piratesโ creative pivots, the Motsepe Foundation Championship side managed to stifle the flow of a team traditionally known for its fluid transition play.
โI watched Pirates up against Mamelodi Sundowns on Wednesday, and I knew exactly what we were going to face. I know they rotate the ball quickly and use their wingers effectively; they are comfortable in possession and play with a very quick transition,” he added.
“I told the boys we had to deal correctly with [Patrick] Tito [Maswanganyi] and take care of Relebohile Mofokeng. The plan was to be aggressive on Rele whenever he was on the ball, closing him down to ensure he couldn’t pass forward.
“You could see the result; even with Deano van Rooyen, we were forcing them to restart and play from the back. I also knew [Deon] Hotto would try to overlap on the left, so I told the boys we needed to ensure a ‘three-man rest defence’ at all times to handle those movements. I think the plan worked very well. I have a lot of respect for Pirates and the Chairman, but I know this result wasn’t what their coach had planned.โ
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