Mashamaite as good as Gould
WE HAVE A MORE THAN RELIABLE REPLACEMENT SuperSport United fly out to take on the mighty TP Mazembe.
SuperSport United coach Eric Tinkler has plenty of confidence in veteran defender Tefu Mashamaite, who is expected to start in place of the suspended Morgan Gould in both legs of the Caf Confederation Cup final with TP Mazembe.
After a few hours delay, SuperSport flew out late yesterday morning for Lubumbashi, where they will play the first leg on Sunday, with the second leg set for November 25 at Lucas Moripe Stadium.
Gould, who has been a pillar of strength at the heart of SuperSport’s defence, will unfortunately have to watch the first and the second legs from the stands as he serves a two-match suspension.
However, Tinkler has the luxury of calling upon an equally slick veteran in Mashamaite, who will hope to keep Mazembe’s strikers quiet in both encounters.
“We unfortunately don’t have Morgan, he will be suspended for both home and away games,” lamented Tinkler.
“But we have more than a reliable replacement for him, which is good for us,” he said, tapping the veteran centreback on his shoulder.
Mashamaite has won every trophy on offer on the domestic scene, bar the Telkom Knockout, and is relishing the opportunity of stepping up and lifting Africa’s second-tier club title.
“It will be a normal game, 90 minutes as usual, but if you are overly excited you end up making mistakes. But if you are psyched up, you are unlikely to make a lot of mistakes.
“I just have to be part of the team and make sure we play according to what we have planned,” said Mashamaite.
The former Kaizer Chiefs and Bidvest Wits captain, who has also represented Bafana Bafana, says this game ranks as one of his biggest.
“It is a big one, I have been with Bafana before but I have never been on this stage, so for me individually it is one of the biggest finals, it is something to look forward to,” he said.
The former BK Hacken defender continued: “It is history in the making, but it has been a great journey which started in Madagascar right down to this moment, so we just have to take from the confidence we have built up.”