Johannesburg — Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro is adamant that Richard Ofori will not get special attention in the MTN8 final in his bid to make Ghana’s World Cup squad.
In the past few weeks, Siyabonga Mpontshane has been Pirates’ No 1 following Ofori’s injury which had put his World Cup ambitions in serious jeopardy.
But Ofori was available for the Soweto Derby against Kaizer Chiefs on Saturday, starting on the bench as Mpontshane continued as the No 1.
Except for being beaten by the sumptuous long-range strike from Yusuf Maart, Mpontshane delivered a potential Man of the Match performance.
Mpontshane's heroics on Saturday were a continuation of where he left off in the MTN8 semi-final second leg as they beat Mamelodi Sundowns 3-0 on aggregate.
So with Pirates scheduled to face AmaZulu in the MTN8 final on Saturday night, there's confusion as to who'll start between Mpontshane and Ofori in goal.
But speaking at their media open day on Tuesday, Riveiro cut a modest figure, saying he has four keepers that he'll select from for the final at Moses Mabhida.
“I have four goalkeepers in the squad: Kopano (Thuntsane), Sipho (Chaine), Siyabonga and Richard,” Riveiro said.
"They are all available to train this week. And as usual, at the end of the week, we are going to make a decision on which one is going to start this game."
After injuring himself in the World Cup group stage qualifiers against Bafana Bafana, Ofori missed out on the play-offs against Nigeria due to that injury.
But he returned to the Ghananian national team up set for their recent friendlies, but whether or not he'll make the final squad for the finals in Qatar is unknown.
Ofori's selection for the Black Stars will augur well for South African football, given that he'll be the only player from the PSL among the 32 national teams.
Ofori's Black Stars are in Group H alongside Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal, Luis Suarez's Uruguay and Son Heung-min’s South Korea.
IOL Sport