JOHANNESBURG – A proud Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic has warned Orlando Pirates’ fans and rivals to expect more from their bag of tricks that produced Thabiso Kutumela’s brilliant free kick.
The Buccaneers took the lead in an innovative manner in their 2-1 win over Maritzburg United at Orlando Stadium on Saturday night.
Pirates put three players – Luvuyo Memela, Justin Shonga and Mthokozisi Dube – just in front of the Team of Choice’s wall and ahead of Kutumela.
They took three steps back in a synchronised manner, with all three holding each other.
Once they were in the right position, they ducked in front of Buccaneers forward Kutumela, who curled a beautiful free kick that stunned Maritzburg and goalkeeper Richard Ofori, who only saw the ball just before it hit the back of the net.
“There’s nothing much to explain,” laughed Sredojevic. “This world is very creative, some things you create yourself, and others you get from somewhere.
“I need to give credit to (Pirates assistant) coach Rhulani (Mokwena), we saw together something and we were insisting (on doing it in a match situation).
“We were close to doing something similar in our match against Free State Stars, and we were close to scoring.
“Today it worked, and we are so proud of that. There is nothing more rewarding in football than seeing something you did at training come out well in a match situation and you get something from it.
“Expect from us many more things. The point is that this is a game; the aim is to beat and outsmart the opponent.
“This trick worked today, and maybe it won’t work next time.
“But I can assure you that the amount of tricks that we have, you haven’t even seen half of it.
“Our supporters and people who love good football must expect a lot of things from us.”
@NJABULON