'Unbelievable' Mbekezeli Mbokazi performs like he is playing for big European club according to former English Premier League & French Ligue defender, but ex-Afcon star reveals his big fear about Orlando Pirates vice-captain - 'I'm afraid'

Mbekezeli Mbokazi captained Orlando Pirates on Saturday in the first leg of the MTN8 semi-final staged at the Orlando Stadium.

Teboho Mokoena headed in Marcelo Allende's corner to give Masandawana a lead, but a long ball by Mbokazi found Kamogelo Sebelebele in space, and the attacker did well to get past his marker before beating Ronwen Williams in Sundowns' goal.

It was a massive win for Bucs, who are aiming to defend their title.  

In the absence of the injured Nkosinathi Sibisi, Mbokazi had to lead the defence alongside Lebone Seema, who was playing in the position for the first time this season.   

The duo did well to limit the experienced Sundowns attack line from getting more than one goal and keep alive Bucs' hopes of making the final.

His coach, Abdeslam Ouaddou, who turned out for the Premier League side Fulham and a host of French Ligue 1 teams, praised his skipper for an exemplary performance.  

“Mbokazi, let me be very honest, and I have to be careful because when you congratulate someone too quickly, I’m afraid he stops working," the former Morocco international told the media.

"But I have to say it, because as a coach you have to be cautious of hyping players, but when they are doing well, it’s good for their mentality, for their self-esteem that they did well. 

“This guy, if he continues to work, if he continues to be professional, if he takes care of his lifestyle, I think he has a great future because what I have seen again today, it’s just unbelievable.

"It’s the performance for big clubs in Europe, and we’re happy to have him in Orlando Pirates, a big club in Africa; he’s fantastic – but he has to keep working," Ouaddou continued. 

The tactician further asked for patience from the fans, promising things would work out. 

“The content today was interesting, we showed some character, some strengths as well from our boys," Ouaddou continued.

“We showed this aim to play forward and to create chances, but in football sometimes it’s not easy because the result has to match the performance, but at the moment the results are not matching the performance of the boys. 

“Let’s hope that in the future we will take results and everything will be aligned and I just want our fans to be patient. I know it’s not the work in a big club like that, but I hope they will be patient with us," he concluded.

Having lost back-to-back Premier Soccer League matches, the draw on Saturday was a massive confidence booster ahead of the match against Stellenbosch on Wednesday. 

The win will be needed by the Sea Robbers ahead of the second leg of the MTN8 semi-final. 

Interestingly, Stellies beat Sekhukhune United 2-0 in the first leg of the same competition, meaning they will be hoping to cause an upset at the Orlando Stadium.