Mamelodi Sundowns coach Pitso Mosimane made a big declaration regarding Oupa Manyisa following their defeat to Kaizer Chiefs in the Shell Helix Ultra Cup on Saturday.
Manyisa was forced off injured in the first half of Sundowns 4-2 defeat at FNB Stadium in the second edition of the friendly tournament hosted by Stadium Management SA.
The 31-year-old midfielder made a rare appearance against local opposition as he partnered his former Orlando Pirates teammate Andile Jali in midfield against Chiefs.
However, the opportunity was short-lived as he was stretchered off after just 42 minutes with what was suspected to be an Achilles injury, and Mosimane subsequently confirmed the worst for ‘Ace’.
“I think his Achilles is gone, so I think the season is done for him, hey, unfortunately – it’s very sad,” said Mosimane in his post-match press conference.
Meanwhile, ‘Jingles’ refused to reduce the many changes he made to a ‘gamble’, despite 80 percent of the team having played less than four games this season.
“I would not say that I took a gamble, I never gamble in football. I play football proper, and we have been making changes a lot in the team,” he insisted.
“From Thohoyandou [against Black Leopards] to today, obviously I made nine changes, but I don’t want to complain about that because I did that when we played against Seychelles [Cote d’Oro].
“It’s part of the game and we can’t be complaining. We played Sundowns players that are normal, regular players, so it’s not a gamble; it’s okay, it’s part of football.
“It’s also good for me, good for the players, good for everybody – good for you [the media], that we know what we have in the bag and we assess, so give guys a chance to play.
“We can’t give them a chance on just any game, this is the right game, with the right intensity and everything. So, it’s okay, we learn from this game.
“There’s lot of positive to take out of this game, and I think there can be a lot of positives also from Chiefs’ side. So, it’s just a learning game – it’s unbelievable what I’ve learnt today about my team.”