Arthur Zwane was caught on camera shouting at Kaizer Chiefs youngster Nkonsigiphile Ngcobo and later revealed what he told Mshini during the CAF Champions League clash against Wydad Casablanca.
The incident happened in the 80th minute of Chiefs’ second leg against the Moroccan giants.
With the game locked at 0-0 at that point, Zwane said he encouraged the youngster, whom he called as ‘one of Africa’s best’ players.
“What is key as coaches, we have to keep supporting the players, because football is a game of mistakes. No one is perfect,” Zwane told reporters.
“And even when I could see now that our energy levels were dropping, and I knew that they were gonna drop at some point, because they kept coming at us and we had to encourage the boys.
“There was no way I could say, ‘Mshini do something that you can’t do.’ I had to encourage him, I had to say, ‘Listen boy, you can do better than this. You know, you’re one of the best in the continent right now.’
“Because if at the age of 20 to 21, you already playing in the Champions League final, it’s good for the country, it’s good for Kaizer Chiefs, it’s good for for everyone.”
Zwane also said that he was happy for Ngcobo, whose progress he has followed from youth level.
“You know this young man who came to Kaizer Chiefs at the age of 12 to 13 years old and we happen to start working him at that age,” he added.
“And because you know, God is amazing because God does things in a unique way, here we are today, myself and Ngcobo and many other development players, now we’ve taken the team to the Champions League final.
“So yeah, it tells you that if there’s a plan in place, there’s a chance that you can execute the plan. So yeah, we are happy for the boy, we are happy for everyone.”
