The pain of being knocked out of the CAF Champions League is still fresh for many Mamelodi Sundowns supporters, but there is no better time than now to protect Mothobi Mvala.
Mvala scored an own goal which knocked Sundowns out of the Champions League, when they were just minutes away from reaching their first final since winning the competition in 2016. I can only imagine the pain that goal must have caused for those at the stadium and others watching at their homes.
After working so hard to get to that stage, and being on the brink of qualifying for the final, it all ended within a second of Mvala knocking that ball into his own net.
Social media, however, has not been kind to Mvala and this is where Sundowns need to step in to protect the player. He probably feels so horrible about what happened on Saturday and dealing with the backlash from supporters would not make it any easier for him to forget about how that one moment denied Sundowns a spot in the final.
There has been calls for Mvala to leave the club, but forget how much of a role the former Highlands Park player has played.
Mvala has been one of the most important players in the Sundowns team this season, playing at centre back, even during times when both Grant Kekana and Rushine de Reuck were available for selection.
He works extremely hard and at times it is difficult to see his value because some of the defenders are a bit more comfortable on the ball, whereas Mvala has this robust style of play and he often ends up with head injuries because of his willingness to always get stuck into challenges. He is one of those players who gives their all on the pitch and he has fought extremely hard for Sundowns in a season where there was complete dominance yet again in the league.
At times, supporters quickly forget that and immediately jump to calling for his head.
Criticising him for what happened is not the problem. What's been a problem on social media is that supporters tend to get personal in what they say and these are the types of things that can send someone into depression, depending on how they deal with situations.
The good thing is that it's the off season now and Mvala will get time to spend with family and maybe forget about what happened. He can come back next season and focus on taking his game to another level.
