Kaitano Tembo, head coach of SuperSport United has explained why young prodigy Teboho Mokoena is one of the club’s best players after his match-winning performance.
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Matsatsantsa were looking to bounce back from their lacklustre string of results that saw them suffer defeat and a draw in their last two matches against Golden Arrows and Bloemfontein Celtic respectively.
Next up for the men from Tshwane was a resilient Stellenbosch FC, who were fresh off a motivating draw against Orlando Pirates. With this weekend’s MTN8 semi-final in mind, Tembo fielded a new look SuperSport team against Stellies.
SuperSport struggled to break down Steve Barker’s men, and it was only in the 71st minute when Mokoena was introduced, that the game switched in their favour. It took the 23-year-old just 10 minutes to find the back of the net with a scintillating strike.
Following the match, Tembo hailed Mokoena’s impact, regarding him as one of the best players in the SuperSport team.
“I had to rest him because he had a little bit of a tight hamstring, so I did not want to risk him. But I told him that I would give him probably the last 15 minutes.
“He came in and he showed his quality. I think he is one of our best players and when he came in, he showed that. He changed the game and we could play with a little bit more speed going forward. He and Moses (Waiswa) I think they combined very well and I’m very pleased with what I saw today,” Tembo told the media after the match.
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The coach has now turned his focus to the MTN8 second leg semi-final against Celtic, where his side is chasing a fourth consecutive final.
“I think they have an advantage at the moment because they scored an away goal, but I think for us, even if they score first, we are still in the game. So, we have to go out there and be patient and not panic, play our normal game and manage the game properly and take whichever opportunities we create and I think we have got the experience to play in these two-legged semi-finals and I think we have to go out there with the right mentality and the right attitude, we have got nothing to lose,” Tembo concluded.
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