Coach Jose Riveiro believes that goalkeeper Siyabonga Dladla has a bright future ahead of him at Orlando Pirates, and has described him as 'one of the most interesting players' when it comes to up-and-coming talent at the Buccaneers' disposal.
Dladla made it onto the bench when Pirates beat Cape Town City in the MTN8 semi-final second-leg match at Orlando Stadium on Saturday.
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The 23-year-old glove man is now set to play the first-ever final in his professional career since being promoted from the DStv Diski Challenge side after the Mighty Buccaneers qualified for that stage of the competition following their 3-1 victory over the Citizens on aggregate.
Dladla was sported jersey number 40, which was previously won by the side's former net minder Siyabonga Mpontshane, who was released at the end of last season but has made his way back to the Rand Stadium training ground as part of the goalkeeper coaching set-up.
"He is one of the young talents in the squad. He had a good season in the DDC [DStv Diski Challenge] team. He proved and showed his capacity. Young talented player, very brave with the very tough conditions in the goalkeeping department, and that is why he is part of the squad.
"He is working very well, today [he] was part of the 20 [players for the matchday], one of the most interesting players for the future of the club for sure.
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"It's all up to him to take the opportunity, to learn as much as he can from people he is working with every day from players with more experience around him. All the conditions are there to make it possible," said Riveiro.
Pirates have registered only four goalkeepers this season, including Bayanda Zulu, Melusi Buthelezi and Sipho Chaine, who is currently the number one shot-stopper and looking set to repeat last season's feat of winning the MTN8 Last Man Standing award.