Pitso showers Celtic’s Mabena with praises
Mamelodi Sundowns head coach Pitso Mosimane is a true admirer of Bloemfontein Celtic captain Ndumiso Mabena as he branded the former Orlando Pirates marksman as an intelligent player who is ageing like fine wine.
Ndumiso Mabena. Photo by Lefty Shivambu/Gallo Images)
Mosimane described the 32-year-old as the “boss” at Celtic, suggesting that he gets preferential treatment on and off the pitch as the star of the show. “Jingles” even went as far as comparing the kind of treatment Mabena gets to that of global superstar Lionel Messi at Barcelona.
READ: Sundowns close gap on Chiefs with Celtic win
“Mabena is class, what a player. He is ageing but he is intelligent, never mind the goal, he is brilliant. He can play as a number 10 and as a number 9. He is the boss there, they leave him to do what he wants. Everybody marks for him and they keep him fresh and rested. You can see why they do that because he is so classy and intelligent,” said Mosimane.
Mabena found the back of the net in Phunya Sele Sele’s 2-1 loss to the defending Absa Premiership champions on Wednesday night at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium – a win that saw Masandawana narrowing the gap to four points between themselves and log leaders Kaizer Chiefs.
“Not many can get that angle and it was Denis Onyango in goals, the number one in Africa. It was a tight one and I never thought he could do it but he has done it before,” said Mosimane.
“He had a little bit of a tiff with the young Motjeka Madisha but Mabena always comes out on top. I have big respect for him, he is a big player. When you see players playing like this and they are ageing, you have to take your head off. The Hlompho Kekanas, and those who play big football every week.”
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