Cape Town — Mamelodi Sundowns may have been keeping prolific scorer Peter Shalulile under wraps for Saturday's do-or-die clash against Orlando Pirates at the Peter Mokaba Stadium.
The Namibian international Shalulile has been conspicuously absent from recent Sundowns teams. The general impression was that he was injured. It therefore came as a surprise when Sundowns co-coach Manqoba Mngqithi said Shalulile may be running out on Saturday in the second leg of the MT8 semi-final.
The first leg ended in a goalless draw, and hence Saturday's clash will be like a final.
“Probably he might come in as a big surprise for this match. It’s very difficult to say whether he’s in or out because the specialists must give a call in that space," said Mngqithi.
"His condition is still okay physically, so we have to wait and see what comes out from the specialists.
"The biggest thing I’m happy about is that we tried to see how the team can perform without Peter in the past three matches."
Mngqithi said the opposition were fielding a "long block with three centre backs" and that made Sundowns look ineffective in front of goal. Teams are coming up with very defensive shapes to achieve results.
“This issue of no shots on goal was taken to the wrong angle,” said Mngqithi.
“I think if you look at that game closely, you’ll realise there were many instances where we should have been in scoring positions than just merely talking about shots at goals.
“If I can cite a few you can look at the two instances where (Khuliso) Mudau was found alone in the final third in three instances in the first half.
"Mudau was found alone in the far post where he had terrible execution in terms of crosses, those could have easily resulted in something."
Mngqithi also had a go at the reporters who attended Thursday's presser. He accused them of coming to the presser with questions that were motivated by ulterior motives.
"You the media are trying to create a rift between the coaches in the PSL," said Mngqithi.
According to Mngqithi, the Peter Mokaba Stadium had been a "good" venue for Sundowns, and it has an excellent surface. "It allows us to play the kind of football that people would like to see."
IOL Sport