Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane has publicly apologised to midfielder Sibusiso Vilakazi.
“I spoke to him and I apologised to him. I told him that he would play (against Platinum Stars), honestly speaking I told him,” Mosimane told the Sowetan.
The Brazilians were forced into making early changes when Anele Ngcongca had to pull out at half-time for Thapelo Morena and then they brought on Colombian Leonardo Castro for Anthony Laffor on the half-hour mark.
With the score at 1-1 and one change left, Mosimane opted to bring on Ivorian striker Yannick Zakri for Themba Zwane.
This resulted in ‘Vila’ missing out as he continues to find it tough to cement a regular spot in the starting line-up since joining from Bidvest Wits in August.
Mosimane, however, decided to put on a striker instead because he was in need of a goal to win the game than someone who can control the ball and dictate play.
“On a pitch like this [considering the persistent rain], I can’t pull out all my punches at the same time – all the subs. You could see in the game we had to have another one [sub] in the last five or 10 minutes.
“So I only had one sub left and you could see that I needed to play on a break because there was space behind [in Stars’ defence],” Mosimane said.
“So who are you going to put in? Zakri, who’s got speed or Vila, who would control the ball? I didn’t need to control the ball because I wanted to score. So I had to put in someone who’s going to punch a little bit harder,” he said. “I apologised to Vila, but I think he will play against (Bidvest) Wits on Saturday. I hope he plays,” Mosimane concluded.
