De Sa concerned Umoya never had shot at goal against Maccabi
But coach counts on Paulse to deliver
For Cape Umoya co-ownercoach Roger de Sa to persuade veteran striker Nathan Paulse to come out of retirement was not a hard task, owing to the pair’s long relationship.
De Sa coached Paulse at Ajax between 2013 and 2017.
The lanky centre-forward has played more matches (51) under the stewardship of De Sa than any other tactician he has worked with during his career, which spans nearly two decades.
“It was very easy to convince Nathan to come out of retirement because I have known him for a long time. He’s also more of a friend to me. When I moved the club to Cape Town, he said maybe he should have a go and I said come and train, and the rest is history,” he said.
Paulse, who had retired at the end of the 2016/17 campaign, has played full 90 minutes in all three of Umoya’s NFD matches thus far. De Sa has been impressed by the 36year-old’s contribution, though he has not scored a goal yet.
“I am happy that he’s performing. He has played three full games. I know he’s not a pretty player to watch but he’s very difficult to play against. You can see that all the teams worry about him.”
De Sa had mixed emotions when his troops drew 0-0 away to newly promoted side Maccabi on Saturday, saying he was happy with a point on the road while he was concerned they did not register even a single shot at goal.
“My disappointment is that we never had a shot at goal. Their goalkeeper never made a save. We need to hit the target.”