Orlando Pirates Mbekezeli Mbokazi, who delivered a Man-of-the-Match performance in a 2-1 win over Mamelodi Sundowns, has revealed a message from head coach Jose Riveiro before the match.
Pirates registered an all-important victory over arch-rivals Sundowns at FNB Stadium on Sunday.
A brace from Relebohile Mofokeng within the opening five minutes proved decisive, even with Khuliso Mudau pulling one back for the visitors in the second half.
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Seeing just 29% of ball possession, the Soweto giants had to do plenty of defending to repel a rampant Sundowns side smelling a comeback. One of the men charged with the responsibility of keeping the defending champions at bay was teenager Mbokazi.
He delivered a solid performance alongside Nkosinathi Sibisi and Tapelo Xoki in a back three and it came as little surprise when he was awarded the Man of the Match award.
Speaking to Pirates' media after the match, Mbokazi detailed the side's defensive plan and revealed a message from coach Riveiro.
"Today was good," reflected the left-footer.
"We trained the whole week believing they would not beat us twice in a row, that we would try by all means not to lose because after all, this is a home game.
"We have to show that we are home. We can't allow others to dominate us.
"The coach told us to die with our man (man-mark). If you're marking someone in a duel, give everything you have. That worked for us. In the first half, we decided okay, let's score some goals early so we can also breathe a bit at the back."
"Second half, we were also able to defend. 45 minutes is not a long time to defend.
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"Even from training, we had discussed that if they (Pirates' attackers) score, it would be our job as defenders to close at the back. Unfortunately, Sundowns got one back and that's when we decided let's not let them score another one, let's fight.
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"Let's die on the pitch. If someone dies, then let them die and leave the pitch, then someone else can come on. That stubbornness is what helped us and we were stubborn in the right way.