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By Tshepo Ntsoelengoe

Football Journalist


Hotto hailed as Pirates’ best player 

“He is always giving opponents a question mark," said the Pirates coach speaking on Hotto's form.


Deon Hotto’s exceptional performances for Orlando Pirates have pleased coach Josef Zinnbauer, who believes the Namibian is their best player at the moment.

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The left-winger has been able to deliver for the side while Bucs have struggled with injuries to all of their strikers, except new arrival Jean-Marc Makusu Mundele.

Hotto has scored three goals so far and had three assists for Pirates.

The former Bidvest Wits player was on the scoresheet in their previous game, which saw Bucs advance to the quarterfinals of the Nedbank Cup after they came from behind to beat Maritzburg United 3-1.

“He is always giving opponents a question mark. Nobody can touch him, he is always on fire. He works with the ball and without the ball and it’s good for the team. He is not a false number nine, his role in the team is like that of Thembinkosi Lorch,” said Bucs coach Zinnbauer.

“We have Mundele as a normal striker. He needs a bit of more time to get used to the system that we play. But Hotto is playing very well as a striker, we are happy that we have him. He scored again and he is always in action in our attack and I think he is the best player for us. He had a top game (against Maritzburg) for the team and himself.”

Zinnbauer will be hoping for another top performance from Hotto and the rest of the players when they host Bloemfontein Celtic in the DStv Premiership at the Orlando Stadium on Tuesday.

The Buccaneers and Phunya Sele Sele meet for the third time this season. In the reverse league fixture, Pirates won 1-0, before the teams met again in the final of the MTN8 Cup, which also saw Pirates walking away as 2-1 victors.

The Buccaneers come into this game with the club in fourth place on the log after collecting 29 points, while Celtic are in 12th place after managing to only register 15 points.

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