TTM assistant coach Mpho Maleka was full of praise for goalkeeper Washington Arubi, who was rightfully named Man of the Match in their Nedbank Cup semifinal win over Mamelodi Sundowns.
Despite having 12 shots at goal and seven shots on target, Sundowns failed to get past Arubi, who put on a virtuoso performance to help his side eliminate the defending champions from the competition.
The Zimbabwean picked up just his eight clean sheet of the season as he frustrated Sundowns at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium and the 35-year-old made the difference when he saved Hlompho Kekana's spot kick that would ultimately see his side pull off a shock win as they emerged 6-5 winners on penalties, to advance to the Nedbank Cup final.
After the match, Maleka was full praise for Arubi, revealing that he was not surprised by the veteran's performance, which stems from his contribution in training.
"We worked on the spine of the team, which starts with (Washington) Arubi, and it goes to (Alfred) Ndengane, it goes to the midfielder Edgar (Manaka), upfront TK (Tokelo Rantie). I mean you cannot falter or try to single out, but there must be that one who gives his best above everybody and it's what he puts (in) at training," Maleka told journalists.
"We are not surprised to see what he did today, for him to win Man of the Match, he deserves that and it will rub off (onto) others as I mentioned the quality that we have, we only want to make it a quality team so individually we continue to win Man of the Matches it will rub onto others and that's why we want everyone to stay focused, everybody to stay together and fight on," he added.
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