‘Ofori was right to put Pirates first before World Cup’
Players mustn’t be selective, says ex-Buc Mayoyo
Former Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Innocent Mayoyo feels the current No1 at Bucs, Richard Ofori, was greathearted to avail himself for the MTN8 final two weeks ago.
Ofori declared himself fit for the final match after recovering from a knee injury. But in the final against AmaZulu the keeper aggravated the injury, and that cost him a place in Ghana’s Fifa World Cup squad. His withdrawal has also cost Pirates a lot of money as they stood to benefit from Fifa’s $10,000 (R172,000) daily allowance paid to clubs for every player taking part in the event in Qatar.
But Mayoyo says people must respect the coach’s decision to play Ofori in the final where the Buccaneers won 1-0 with him having a good game.
“At the end, we need to respect the decision of the coach because players don’t play for themselves and they don’t put themselves in the starting lineup,” Mayoyo told Sowetan yesterday.
“So, we can’t take it to him and we can’t answer if it was a good idea to play in that final* or not. I think the decision still lies with the coach. At the end of the day, when we look at the cup final, it worked for them.”
Mayoyo added that Ofori was right to put Pirates first before the World Cup with Ghana as he is contracted to the club.
“As a player, you will always be looking at the next game more than anything else. As a player you can’t be saving yourselves for certain tournaments more than doing the task at hand,” he said.
“At the end, he is contracted to Pirates, that’s where his bread and butter are. So, his priority should be Pirates.”
Ofori’s absence is another huge blow to Ghana’s goalkeeper department, with firstchoice goalkeeper Joe Wollacott also ruled out of the competition with a finger injury.
Ghana play their first match against Portugal.