Pirates’ Ouaddou explains Appollis omission in MTN8 final

Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou defended his decision not to start Oswin Appollis after the Buccaneers lost the MTN8 final 2-0 to Mamelodi Sundowns at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday.

Appollis benched for Pirates

Appollis was again superb for Bafana Bafana in the international break, particularly against Eritrea in 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying, as he produced a hat-trick of assists in a 5-0 win.

He was also rested for Bafana’s final match of the international break, a 1-0 friendly win over Egypt in Cairo. So there was no reason to think the 25-year-old was not fresh for the clash with Masandawana.

In the end, however, Appollis was only used by Ouaddou as a half time substitute, coming on with the team already 1-0 down and chasing the game.

“He (Appollis) is one of the best players in the country and in our team,” said Ouaddou at the post match press conference.

“But when you are playing a game you have a strategy, you can play it in different phases. You have to think and anticipate what could happen in the second half.

“We did it last year,” said Ouaddou. Appollis came off the bench on the hour mark in last year’s MTN8 final and assisted two goals in extra time in a 3-0 win over Stellenbosch.

“You know how I work. I have a starting XI all the time but I also have impact players. Today, he was part of the impact players, he is someone who can change a game. Oswin is a fantastic player, he is very important for us, but today we took the decision to bring him in as an impact player.”

‘The momentum of the game was the penalty’

The loss to Sundowns meant Pirates failed to grab a fifth consecutive MTN8 title, and Ouaddou pointed to Gamphani Lungu’s second half penalty, which was saved by Sundowns goalkeeper Ronwen Williams, as the match’s turning point.

He was also critical of his side’s slow start, which saw Teboho Mokoena give Sundowns the lead from a set piece.

“We started the game a bit shy, with a lack of aggression and we were caught early. It is something we wanted to change, in games we have played (against Sundowns) before we have conceded early and been chasing the game.

“But … really the momentum of the game was the penalty. If we managed to get to 1-1 the game could have been different.”