Orlando Pirates co-caretaker coach Mandla Ncikazi has praised six of his players after their victory over Diables Noirs.
The Buccaneers claimed a 1-0 win over Diables Noirs on Sunday at Orlando Stadium to book their ticket for the next qualifying round of the CAF Confederations Cup.
Ncikazi specifically singled out the defensive line as well as some of his midfielders as the best performers on the day.
“Happy Jele, leadership, experience, humbleness but a lion on the field of play, stood out for me,” Ncikazi answered when asked about the performance of players by iDiski Times in a press conference.
“(Paseka) Mako since he came from the injury, he has been outstanding, Kwanda Mngonyama who has not played most of the games, although he had challenges towards the end, understandably so, because he hasn’t played.
“And the whole defence just stood their ground, (Siyabonga) Mpontshane did well and the two central midfielders, (Thabang) Monare coming from an injury, he couldn’t finish the match.
“The whole six, back-six they did exceptionally well. And I’m just proud as a group that we defended well.
“And from this, let’s take it into the next phase, which is a league match against Royal AM on Thursday.”
