Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has explained the qualities that striker Marou Souaibou possesses after he replaced Thembinkosi Lorch against SuperSport United.
Pirates kept their hopes of qualifying for the CAF Champions League alive after edging rivals SuperSport 1-0 thanks to a late penalty by Tapelo Xoki over the weekend.
In a tight affair, Riveiro made unusual substitutions after bringing on strikers Evidence Makgopa and Souaibou in places of Kermit Erasmus and Lorch late in the game and the move seemed to have paid off, as the Buccaneers soon won a penalty.
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The Spanish coach has explained why he brought on the young Cameroonian forward, whom he described as uncomfortable to face when it comes to his pace.
"The full back was tired and Marou is a strong player physically. He can run, he can give you a bad time if he can face you, if he can see your eyes," Riveiro said in a press conference.
"So we tried to be aggressive with those balls, bringing to the field maybe more physical capacities than the players that were substituted.
"And everybody fits in the squad as long as they are ready to contribute. If Evidence is coming to the field and is giving us something is because he's working well during the week, the same with Marou and that's what you like as a coach," he said.
The Vigo native further explained that he chooses players based on different scenarios in matches and does not necessarily field the players that he likes.
"Whoever is called from the bench is giving you an honest performance like they did (against SuperSport). Sometimes depending on the scenario, you find some players fit than others," he continued.
"The decisions that I make as a coach, it's about that. I said it many times that we choose the players that we think are gonna help us to win the game.
"It doesn't mean the others can't do it but you try to find the proper profiles to do that, not the players that I like the most, if you understand what I mean," he added.
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