It may have taken long but Orlando Pirates assistant coach Mandla Ncikazi is finally getting seconded on his comments about the PSL being bigger than the Africa Cup of Nations.
Two years ago, following the completion of the 2021 edition of AFCON, Ncikazi suggested that the standard of the league might be better than that of the continent's elite competition.
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Ncikazi, who was the co-coach at Pirates at the time, was answering to questions on why the team's former striker Gabadinho Mhango was left out of the matchday squad for the Nedbank Cup last 32 fixture against AmaZulu, which the Buccaneers had won.
Mhango had come back from AFCON in Cameroon where he put up some top performances for Malawi and questions were raised when he didn't make Bucs' matchday squad, before he eventually parted ways with the club at the end of the 2021/22 season.
As Malawi reached the Last 16 of AFCON, Mhango was influential in their campaign with the three goals he scored and his overall contribution.
"We know he is a good player, so it's not because anything is wrong with him, it's just competition. Currently, we chose to go with Kwame Peprah and Zakhele Lepasa. He will get his opportunity in due course (and) he just has to work hard like other players. So, Mhango will wait like all other players. We recognise and acknowledge his performance at the Afcon but maybe the league in South Africa is bigger than the Afcon. That is a question for another day," Ncikazi said at the time, speaking to journalists, in part.
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Following Bafana Bafana's impressive AFCON campaign in Ivory Coast where coach Hugo Broos' team was made up of mainly the locally based players, goalkeeping legend and former Polokwane City coach Innocent Mayoyo has spoken highly of the PSL.
"I agree with him (Ncikazi). I have always said this, and I am saying this again, South Africa can beat any team in the world. This country has good players and we've got a very good league that is competitive. Going forward, we just need to make sure that our development structures are well organised for us to keep on producing good players to compete with the best," said Mayoyo, speaking exclusively to the Siya crew.
