Gaston Sirino of Mamelodi Sundowns Pic: Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix.
When he was still new to South African football, he was – and still is – a marvel to watch. At the same time, he looked like a very rough player. He made late tackles, strong challenges and I thought to myself, ‘this player is talented but he seems like a bully’.
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His rash tackles reminded me of Manchester United legend and retired midfielder Paul Scholes. The Englishman was a great passer of the ball, particularly his long passes and there are few who marshaled the midfield better than he did. But the nasty part of his game was his tackling – he hardly got them right.
Not only can Sirino not tackle, he has a temper that is really frustrating for those who are Masandawana fans. Head coach Pitso Mosimane is always living on the edge, because he would like to play Sirino in most games, but the Uruguayan can just blow at any minute. Sundowns even had to play a midweek Absa Premiership game three days before the league cup final so that Sirino could serve his suspension and be available for the final.
He provided both assists to his Uruguay countryman Mauricio Affonso’s two headed goals in the final against Maritzburg United and that just goes to show that he is really an important player for Bafana Ba Style.
Sirino should be the Telkom Knockout Player of the Tournament because he has been phenomenal in the league cup leading up to Sundowns claiming it for the first time since 2015. Sirino provided a handful of assists and scored five goals himself, finishing the tournament as the top goal scorer, with his closet rivals being Judas Moseamedi and Mauricio Affonso.
It is unlikely that the league cup sponsors and the PSL will give Sirino his deserved gong, however,because of the red card that he got against Golden Arrows in the semifinal of the TKO semifinal. Funny enough, he received that red card after scoring and assisting Hlompho Kekana in a 2-1 win over Abafana Bes’thende, essentially embodying the phrase ‘from hero to villain’.
I believe that Sirino was snubbed from being nominated in last season’s year-end awards because of a red card that he received and the number of yellow cards that were flashed on his face. In short, Sirino is a great player but his short temper and lack of discipline will rob him off the individual glory that he deserves.
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