Orlando Pirates' Linda Mntambo could be hopeful of being rewarded for his hard work and dedication with more game-time in the remaining matches of the season, judging by the kind of effort he put into the team's most recent match and the reaction thereafter.
Having made only seven appearances in Pirates' DStv Premiership campaign so far this season, Mntambo was handed his third appearance in the CAF Confederation Cup at the weekend when he came on for Abel Mabaso at the start of the second half against Simba.
The attacking midfielder didn't disappoint with his performance and showed hunger for more action with his contribution to the Buccaneers' victory as the team booked a spot in the semi-finals of the continental competition.
Pirates' co-coach Mandla Ncikazi explained the decision for bringing on the 32-year-old, while he also lauded Makaringe for his performance.
"We have observed that when we play against a block, which is what we predicted the back five, we just become predictable when you look at a lot of draws that we've played at home. People can predict how we play, which is why maybe even the substitution when we took out Mabaso (and) dropped Makaringe to play as a six, we wanted that penetration through central passages and in the half spaces," said Ncikazi, speaking to journalists.
"If we have to progress the ball from centre-backs into midfield, you need that type of players. There was not much pressure from the opponents (and) we could take that risk of playing Makaringe which I thought worked well even when we put Linda Mntambo it was a moment where we don't want to only go on wide channels, we also want to penetrate centrally. We have to be a bit direct, sometimes we get into wide positions and what is different with us (is that) we have the numbers in the box, numerical advantage, but we still don't play the ball in the box," the coach added.
