Orlando Pirates veteran midfielder Makhehleni Makhaula, 36, has opened up about the role he plays behind the scenes to motivate his teammates about the importance of winning the league title, revealing he’s always on everyone’s case when they slack off. Pirates, who host bottom-placed Magesi at Orlando Amstel Arena tomorrow (6pm), have emerged as genuine title contenders this season, having gone 11 league games without a defeat with nine wins and two draws to sit third on the table, just three points behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, who’ve played two games more than them. “If I see one player not training well, I am not scared to tell them that ‘you can’t f*** up like this’.
It might be the last time for some of us to be in this position of fighting for the title, so if we don’t push each other, it’s a problem,” Makhaula said. “I have belief that this season we can win the league, but we mustn’t put ourselves under pressure because that’s where we can go wrong. We mustn’t mind what other teams are doing, but we must continue to focus on ourselves.
You can see that these boys [his teammates] are hungry for success.” Makhaula, who’s the reigning Midfielder of the Season, also wants to win the league title for his late mother, a “die-hard Pirates fan”. “It’d mean a lot to win the league. I also want to win it for my late mother who was a die-hard Pirates fan.
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She’d be really proud if I achieve that with this club that I’ve also always loved,” Makhaula said. The tried and tested anchorman said the difference between this season and the past three seasons, where they finished as runners-up to Sundowns, is that their defence is not easy to bridge now. “Our defence is solid now.
We are no longer conceding silly goals and that’s the difference. I really think this season it [winning the league] will happen but we have to remain humble even if we win games,” Makhaula said. Saturday: Gallants v AmaZulu, Dr Molemela (3.30pm); Chippa v Durban, Buffalo City (3.30pm); Polokwane v Orbit, Old Peter Mokaba (6pm); Pirates v Magesi, Orlando Stadium (6pm)
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