Zinnbauer lauds Mabasa’s character after penalty shocker

Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer has lauded the response of striker Tshegofatso Mabasa to his penalty miss in the Caf Confederation Cup match against Enyimba.

Mabasa skied his spot-kick but was able to make amends with a late winner that moved Orlando Pirates to the head of their group.

With rain pelting down at Orlando Stadium Mabasa lost his footing and not only put his penalty well over but landed on his backside leaving him embarrassed and sodden.

Mabasa bounces back

Zinnbauer said the incident would not cause him to lose faith in Mabasa’s penalty-taking and put it down to the weather more than the pressure situation.

“We got the penalty and normally you think Mabasa.. he’s normally a top penalty scorer but the weather was not on our side or his side and then that can happen,” he said after the game.

“But what’s important for me is that going forward, they tried and fight for the result, that was very good to see and we got a lucky punch.

“I’m very happy about Mabasa, making the mistake and then scoring, I’m happy because he was a long time out and he returns by scoring. It’s always good to score after being injured for a long time.”

Zinnbauer was delighted that the striker got back into scoring ways straight away and said that Mabasa was in good spirits.

“We had communication [after missing the penalty], normally a striker needs self-confidence [after that] but he has enough self-confidence. I gave him my word that it wasn’t a problem, you can score also now,” Zinnbauer admitted.

“He has the quality for scoring, I’m happy that he scored but in general, it’s not important for me who scores but in this case, he missed the penalty then he scored and it’s a top reaction and I’m happy about it.”

Zinnbauer wants Pirates to find final third solutions 

Orlando Pirates’ German coach felt that his team let themselves down in the final third and should have killed the game off long before Mabasa’s winner.

“It was not easy in the second half because of the rain‚ but both teams played on the same field. You cannot make the excuse that it was slippery or whatever‚ but you must find solutions in the final third. We got into those dangerous areas at times but we did not have the right final shot.

“Kabelo Dlamini had a good chance but their goalkeeper made a top save and in the second half we had three to four more chances from set-pieces or corner kicks‚ but we did not score. The weather cannot be used as an excuse but you have to score.”

Orlando Pirates next assignment is a Soweto derby as they prepare to face Kaizer Chiefs for the fourth time this season having won the past three.