'I spoke to Irvin Khoza in person'

‘I spoke to Irvin Khoza in person’ – Ralani

Orlando Pirates once nearly signed Surprise Ralani but the timing was not right. Thembinkosi Lorch was the reason.

Orlando Pirates owner Dr Irvin Khoza. Image @OfficialPSL

Orlando Pirates’ former superstar Thembinkosi Lorch was the reason Surprise Ralani never became a Buccaneer.

SURPRISE RALANI ON FAILED ORLANDO PIRATES MOVE

“I spoke to the chairman, [Dr] Irvin Khoza, in person, but the move to Pirates never materialized,” Ralani told Andile Ncube on Metro FM’s Sports Night Amplified, as per iDiski Times. “During the last six months, Lorch was on form at Chippa and was younger than me and they decided to go with him.”

JOSE RIVEIRO REFLECTS ON THE WIN OVER SUPERSPORT UNITED

Orlando Pirates have moved closer to another Nedbank Cup final, thanks to Saturday’s thrilling win over SuperSport United in Polokwane, but it was not comfortable.

Mbekezeli Mbokazi’s opener was cancelled by Terence Djzukamanja’s equaliser before Evidence Makgopa restored the lead on the stroke of halftime. Just when Orlando Pirates thought they had the win in the bag, Gape Moralo grabbed the second equaliser in the 93rd minute to take the game to extra time and penalties.

“We were wrong in our positioning in the last minutes. We allowed them to have contact on the ball,” said Riveiro via FARPost. ‘Players like Bradley [Grobler], like [Vincent] Pule and Christian [Saile] in the areas close to our box. In the end, they punished us,” he added.

SIPHO CHAINE SAVES ORLANDO PIRATES

The resultant penalty shootout paved the way for Orlando Pirates goalkeeper Chaine to save Vincent Pule and Christian Saile’s attempts.

“It’s one of the possibilities in a knockout game, there’s only two possible results in these types of games, if you can not make it in the 120 minutes, you have to go to penalties and do your best,” Riveiro said via iDiski Times. “We did good job in that space, and again happy to be in the semi-finals.

“It’s his role in the penalty shoot out, he has to stay there between the posts and try to catch at least one more than the opponent, he’s been doing well in that scenario in recent occasions in penalties. Today again he did an excellent job, together with the analysis department, with the goalkeeper coach, with everyone in that space, helping him to do the right decisions.”

Meanwhile, Kaizer Chiefs joined Orlando Pirates in the final four, while Marumo Gallants are set to face Durban City. Mamelodi Sundowns’ clash with Sekhukhune United was cancelled subject to a new date.