Orlando Pirates suffer Kamogelo Sebelebele injury blow after MTN8 final defeat

Orlando Pirates head coach Abdeslam Ouaddou confirmed winger Kamogelo Sebelebele was forced off with an injury during the club’s 2-0 MTN8 final defeat by Mamelodi Sundowns on Saturday night.

Pirates had been aiming to win the competition for a fifth successive season, but were beaten by the Brazilians at Moses Mabhida Stadium.

Sebelebele’s injury came just before half-time, adding to Pirates’ disappointment after they also missed an opportunity to change the course of the match when Ghampani Lungu failed to convert a penalty.

“We had to take him out unfortunately,” Ouaddou told SuperSport.

“It was a report from the medical department. We’re going to have some more modules, but we had to take him out and not to take risk with him but it’s unfortunate for him.”

Ouaddou said Lungu’s missed spot-kick had been a key moment, believing a successful penalty could have shifted the momentum in Pirates’ favour.

“Look, there are two – one moment in the game. I think when we come back with the penalty, I think it was a good momentum to come to score, I think if we had scored maybe the game could’ve been different. But I’ve nothing to approach to my boys, they gave everything,” he said.

The Pirates coach praised his players for following the game plan, although he accepted that Sundowns were able to exploit the space left behind as his side pushed for an equaliser.

“We wanted to win that trophy and get history again, but it’s football, they gave everything. We tried to be disciplined to respect the plan, but of course at the end we let sort of space because we wanted to score so maybe Sundowns could’ve scored a lot of goals as well,” he added.

Ouaddou also highlighted the amount of possession Pirates had and the chances they created, saying the team would now turn its attention to the rest of the campaign.

“But I think really the momentum was the penalty, otherwise I think the boys applied exactly what we wanted. We had the possession, I have to see the number of chances we created, the season is long. We’re going to fight to keep this title, but it’s good we are disappointed for our fans of course. But I think South African fans have seen a good football match today, high level and that’s it but I’ve nothing to approach to my boys,” he continued.