Orlando Pirates co coach Mandla Ncikazi was full of praise for the Orlando Pirates’ defensive effort in their 2-0 CAF Confederation Cup win over JS Saoura on Sunday.
Pirates defended well against their Algerian counterparts in the Group B win, and it was defenders Happy Jele and Bandile Shandu who also scored the goals.
Ncikazi said it was a great defensive effort by the team overall, and when asked about the standout performance of Nigerian Olisa Ndah by iDiski Times’ Rob Delport, Ncikazi said it is not often a foreign defender adapts so quickly to the South African game.
“I thought the whole defence played well,” Ncikazi said at the post match press conference.
“Ndah is a top defender. For somebody who just came into the PSL, normally, defenders does not understand the South African game on arrival, they need time, but for him to adjust this quickly…
“But I also thought Happy contributed well. His leadership was very important.
“Mako, I thought he was excellent playing the role that he’s playing.
“I thought the defending, defenders and defending was one exceptional game that we presented today, which is what we worked on, because when you place teams, you have to be strong in your offensive game, but equally strong on your defensive game and I thought we got that from the whole team.”
