Orlando Pirates winger Oswin Appollis was rated on of the best signings of the 2025/26 season having help the Buccaneers to a treble.
He scored nine goals in the Betway Premiership and won the midfielder of the season.
A poor World Cup with Bafana Bafana has affected his season at Pirates. With just one goal this campaign, Appollis has failed to recapture his form which made him one of the most feared attackers in the league.
Against Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8 final, the speedy winger was benched by Abdeslam Ouaddou. Despite coming on in the second half, he failed to make an impact as Pirates ultimately lost 2-0.
Appollis benched by Pirates coach in MTN8 final
“He’s one of the of the best players in the country, in our team as well,” Ouaddou said about Oswin Appollis after the final.
“But you know when you’re playing a game, you have a strategy. You can play in different phases, you have to anticipate about what can happen in the second half.
“We planned to bring him quickly maybe after the second half. I think we did it last year. You know how I’m working, I always have some players who are impact players. So today, he was he was part of the impact players, somebody who can change the game.
Against Sundowns, Pirates benched Appollis for Tshepang Moremi, who failed to make an impact throughout the match. Ouaddou though felt the main reason his side lost was the early goal conceded.
“But the fact that we conceded early changed our plan because we were chasing. So Oswin is a fantastic players, he’s a very important player for us, an international players. But today we take the decision to bring him as impact player to change the game,” Ouaddou said.
With Appollis struggling for form, that could hurt Pirates especially in big games where he is needed the most.