Itumeleng Khune was given a rare opportunity to watch on from the Chiefs bench as they skimmed past Lidoda Duvha in the Telkom Knockout opening round over the weekend.
Virgil Vries, who arrived at Naturena at the start of the season, earned his second appearance, after being handed his debut in the MTN8 opening round, and spared Amakhosi’s blushes as he pulled off some solid stops and eventually saved them in the penalty shootout.
Despite the Soweto Derby on the horizon, Solinas felt it fit to give the Bafana Bafana first-choice shot-stopper a rest as he compared the 31-year-old to Italian legend Gianluigi Buffon.
“It’s a normal rotation because, yes, ‘Itu’ is our number one and he’s also Bafana’s number one,” said Solinas.
“But you know we’ll soon start the [CAF Confederation Cup] campaign in Africa; we’re playing in the league [Absa Premiership]; we play in the cups, so sometimes it’s also good to rest the goalkeeper.
“At Juventus, Buffon also used to rest, so why not Itu? But, why [the change against Leopards]? Because we have two very good international goalkeepers.
“I watched Bafana, both at home and in Seychelles, and Itu performed outstanding. I also watched the games of Namibia and Vries performed very well.
“So, I am happy that I have two very good goalkeepers. But it’s not only these two, there’s also Bruce [Bvuma], who played in Macufe Cup, and he played very well. We don’t have a problem in this department – we can sleep very well over the goalkeepers.”