JOHANNESBURG – Orlando Pirates coach Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic credits the Cosafa Cup for helping Lyle Foster return strong enough to open his scoring account with the Buccaneers.
The 17-year-old forward rescued the Buccaneers from the jaws of defeat against Polokwane City on Saturday night at Orlando Stadium. Foster came off the bench to score with three minutes remaining to help Pirates end the match 1-1 after chasing Rise and Shine’s shadows for the better part of the contest.
The point Pirates stole from Polokwane ensured that they maintained their good start, collecting seven points out of nine in 2018.
“I need to tell you that he was in a honeymoon after the match against Cape Town City,” Sredojevic said. “He came up with an assist in that match and unfortunately he picked up an injury (that ended the honeymoon).
“He came back from that injury, went to France (for trials with Monaco) and came back.Then there were doubts whether he would go to the Cosafa Cup (with the SA national Under-20 team) or not.
“We are happy that we sent him to the Cosafa Cup and he served the nation in the best possible way (helping them to return with the trophy from Zambia and finishing as the tournament’s joint top goalscorer).
“He played games there and when we came back from the break on December 27, he was much stronger.”