Orlando Pirates midfielder Patrick Maswanganyi has explained that his panenka penalty was inspired by Jose Riveiro, and revealed how Bruce Bvuma tried to taunt him ahead of the spot-kick.
Maswanganyi famously chipped a last-minute penalty past Bvuma to hand the Buccaneers a crucial 1-0 win in the latest derby.
He stunned many in the local football fraternity with his audacious chip at such a crucial time, and now revealed that it was inspired by words from Riveiro after he had missed a spot-kick vs Cape Town City.
“When we played against Cape Town City we also got a penalty, and when I missed it I felt bad, especially for my teammates and the hard work they’ve done,” he said in Pirates’ documentary Bucs camp.
“Because we had worked hard and it was a very difficult game. I remember crying heading to the change room because I knew that I broke my teammate’s hearts.
“A few days after missing that penalty coach came to talk to me, he said the next time we win a penalty I should chip it.
“I said ‘no problem, I’ll do exactly that’.”
Tito also revealed that Chiefs keeper Bvuma tried to put pressure on him by insisting Maswanganyi should take responsibility.
“I remember Makgopa was holding the ball and then Bruce [Bvuma] said he wants me to take it. He kept taunting me to come and take the penalty,” he added.
Despite the chip being a success, and showing his confidence, Maswanganyi admitted he can’t regularly use the panenka option.
“The chip, a lot of people call it a ‘panenka’. I don’t know where it comes from but I feel like when you take a penalty like that it sometimes shows that you believe in yourself or something like that,” he added.
“But it has it’s moments, it’s not a penalty you can take regularly because obviously if I take it that way and the goalkeeper doesn’t move people will feel like I wasted the chance, so I feel like it has it’s moments.
“I think you have to choose the right moment, you also need to believe that you’re going to pull it off because sometime if you lack belief, things don’t work out well.”
