The Ghost haunted by costly goalkeeping errors
ORLANDO Pirates goalkeeper Richard Ofori sent some of ‘the Ghost’ into a frenzy when the club confirmed his arrival from Maritzburg United last year. After all, he had been a colossal figure for the Team of Choice and the Ghana national team.
But what those Bucs’ faithful seem to have forgotten was that despite how good Ofori was, he was still error prone.
It wasn’t long before the 27-year-old revealed his weak points, conceding goals through several blunders last term.
His then coach Josef Zinnbauer defended the No 1. Ofori started this campaign where he left off in the old season. His blunder against Swallows FC saw the champions booted out of the MTN8 quarter-final.
It appears that Ofori’s howlers have followed him to the Black Stars’ camp. On Monday night he had two nervy moments which nearly awarded Bafana Bafana two goals. One of the incidents saw Ofori miskick the ball before he tripped on his own leg. This resulted in the goalkeeper going off on a stretcher and he was replaced by Lawrence Ati-Zigi who conceded Bafana’s late winner from Bongokuhle Hlongwane.
The football fraternity noticed Ofori’s nervous performances. Swallows chairman David Mogashoa took to Twitter and posted a picture of a woman with a lit candle, captioning it: “For the goalkeeper to be healed and match ready on Saturday.” The Birds and the Bucs will face off in their first league match at the Orlando Stadium this Saturday, with the two Soweto giants in contrasting form. Pirates are winless in the league after two draws, while Swallows are on four points after one win and one draw.
Wayne Sandilands and Siyabonga Mpontshane are Pirates’ two other goalkeepers. They have been deployed to makeshift roles since Ofori’s arrival late last year. The beleaguered goalkeeping department will an improved Swallows attack which has scored three goals in four matches. The retention of veteran Ruzaigh Gamildien has brought a breath of fresh air to Swallows’ attack. Gamildien punished Ofori for his blunder in the
MTN8, and he’s serving as a role model to the youngsters. Keletso Makgalwa’s arrival at Swallows has given their striking department more options.
The former Mamelodi Sundowns striker is small built but he makes up for that with silky skills and a knack for scoring. Pirates’ strikers, meanwhile, are yet to show what they have this season following the team’s three goals since the beginning of the campaign. The Buccaneers were held by Marumo Gallants to a 0-0 draw. But in a game, such as the ‘Original Soweto derby’, they’ll hope that changes.