For many players, a place on the bench could be a death knell. It usually is a sentence for the simple crime of having one or more players either being better or preferred.
For Orlando Pirates full-back, Wayde Jooste it has been a painstaking wait for a chance to prove that he’s good enough to be on the pitch like the other players. He revealed that while waiting on the bench, he had to stay mentally strong.
It’s taken about three months since his last start in the league for him to take to the pitch again. His last start came on the 17th of January, a 2-0 defeat to Black Leopards in Limpopo. His return to the pitch brought something to cheer, as the Soweto giants defeated Lidoda Duvha 3-0 on Thursday afternoon.
It was a reward for the hard work as the 29-year-old also walked away with the Man of the Match award to banish the pains of the last encounter with the Black Leopards. The reverse fixture saw him starting and scoring an own goal.
Jooste was quick to push the memories of the last encounter to the back burners. “I don’t want to remember because it didn’t end well for me and the team. But we knew they are coming here today and we have to give them something,” Jooste said after the game.
“It’s all about the mentality, I haven’t started for a while, and being out for such a long time can affect you mentally but I had to be strong and just wait for my chance and tonight was my chance.”
He however was not satisfied with the score-line, believing that the team could have won by a bigger margin. He however attributed that to the several changes made to the team. “First and foremost all the glory must go to God, it wasn’t only me playing tonight. There were a lot of changes tonight and everybody knew we have to work hard,” he said.
“The guys coming fighting for the places in the team and we knew we have to fight for the three points as well because we’re still not out of the league.
“I think it should have been more, I think you guys know it should have been much more, we went to half-time nil-nil but we knew we should have three or maybe four goals to the good but we kept our heads up” he added.