Ng’ambi continues to shine
Flames midfield stalwart Robert ‘Baggio’ Ng’ambi continues to hog the limelight in South Africa. On Saturday, he inspired his team Platinum Stars to claim a second cup this season.
Stars came from a goal down to defeat Orlando Pirates 2-1 in the Telkom Knockout final at Mbombela Stadium.
Ng’ambi, who played a full game and conducted the orchestra for Dikwena in midfield, said helping his club win a second piece of silverware this season was fantastic.
“I was particularly happy with my performance, but over and above that, it was all about team-work,” Ng’ambi said in a telephone interview yesterday morning.
The Buccaneers looked set to claim revenge on Dikwena for their defeat in the final of the MTN8 earlier this season after Lucky Lekgwathi’s first-half goal, but a late brace from substitute Mogakolodi Ngele saw the Rustenburg team claim an unlikely victory.
Pirates settled the quicker of the two teams, but it was Stars who had the first shot in anger, with the always dangerous Ng’ambi putting an effort just over the crossbar in the seventh minute.
On the half hour mark it was Pirates who broke the deadlock. Daine Klate provided a perfect cross into the penalty area from a free-kick and captain Lekgwathi arrived to glance home a header.
On 78 minutes, Stars pulled level with Ngele powering through a gap in the Bucs backline before coolly chipping the ball over the advancing Meyiwa—despite a gallant attempt at a tackle from Mahamutsa—to find the back of the net.
And the Botswana international cemented his status as a Dikwena hero 10 minutes later when he crashed home the winning goal.
