A surprise appearance for Thapelo Maseko against Esperance did not quite work out the way Miguel Cardoso had planned, but the Mamelodi Sundowns coach had no regrets over giving the winger a rare opportunity to feature.
Maseko came on in the second half of Sundowns' CAF Champions League quarter-final first leg at Loftus Stadium on Tuesday, replacing goalscorer Peter Shalulile in the final seven minutes of the game which Sundowns won 1-0. The plan was for Maseko to use his pace to get behind the Esperance defence, but the hosts did not utilise his strength in the way Cardoso would have liked.
The winger had not featured for Sundowns since February and got some valuable minutes on the pitch after Cardoso was impressed with the work he has been putting in at training.
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It's been a tough second season for Maseko at Sundowns. At one point, he was playing in the DStv Diski Challenge side and had to fight his way back into the first team's matchday squad. He has made 11 senior team appearances, but has not been in the starting line-up for any of them.
"Maseko has been training very well. He has not been playing regularly, it's true. But he has been in the group. When a player is regularly in the group, it means that we trust (him). He has specific characteristics and we thought we could profit from the characteristics that he had. He is a player who is very quick and he understands the spaces at the back of the defence," Cardoso told media after the clash during a press conference.
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"He has been training with us for those characteristics and highlighting those characteristics on him. That's what we wanted, but we did not serve him the right way because he must be served on the spaces. He is a player to be served in the space, not on his feet. We should play the ball out of the direction of the centre backs. It didn't work, but the intention of putting him on the pitch is correct. We are satisfied with the work he does everyday. That's why he played."
Sundowns will travel to Rades, Tunisia, to take on Esperance in the second leg next Tuesday.
