Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro is clinging to the hopes that his goalkeeper Richard Ofori will be fit in time against Mamelodi Sundowns in the MTN8 second leg semi final at Peter Mokaba Stadium on Saturday.
Ofori suffered what looked like a knee injury in the 1-1 draw against AmaZulu in the DStv Premiership at Orlando Stadium last Friday.
In that game, he was replaced by Siyabonga Mpontshane in the 55th minute.
He clashed badly with Lehlohonolo Majoro when he was coming out to challenge for the ball. But the AmaZulu striker came off worse as he was left concussed.
The effects of that were also felt by Ofori, who came out charging to punch the ball away.
The Ghanaian goalie then missed the 2-0 win over Golden Arrows at Princess Magogo Stadium on Tuesday in Durban, although he was part of the travelling party. Mpontshane was the man in goals.
There have also been concerns at home in Ghana that Ofori might miss the World Cup that has seen a few stars suffer injuries with weeks away from the world showpiece tournament kick starts in November in Qatar.
“I can say at this moment I have a hope that he will be fit. It is not impossible that he’s ready to play,” said Riveiro in short.
To be fair, Ofori has not covered himself in glory so far this season. He had a shocking match against Sekhukhune United when they lost 2-0 earlier this month.
For the first goal, he couldn’t get his angle right, as he was beaten at the near post.
For the second, he came off his line charging, trying to intercept the ball. However, he was beaten as Sekhukhune punished him to score the second goal. As the last line of defence, it was bad goalkeeping, even though he was left exposed by his teammates
