Stellenbosch FC head coach Steve Barker gave full praise to the CAF referee standard after a trip to Mali and also applauded referee Philangenkosi Khumalo for his performance on Sunday afternoon.
Stellenbosch began their CAF Confederation Cup group stages journey against Stade de Malien away from home and suffered a 2-0 defeat. Despite the loss, Barker was happy with the match official Mehrez Melki from Algeria.
The Stellies mentor also praised SAFA referee Khumalo for his performance at Orlando Stadium when the Cape Winelands side ended Pirates’ seven-match unbeaten run in the Betway Premiership.
“The number of games we’ve played this season, I think we are about 19 already and obviously played in the MTN8 against a really good team like Sundowns, final against Pirates, and obviously AS Vita and Stade de Malien, it’s allowing the players to grow quickly and to learn quickly,” Barker told the gathered media.
“I just want to personally give credit to the referee today; I thought he was superb. It’s similar to the refereeing I’ve experienced on the continent; he let a lot of things go, and normally they would be blown up, and it is a stopped start ought he let the game flow.
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“Credit must also go to Pirates; it’s not easy for a team to win eight games in a row. They did superbly well, and today wasn’t their day. Yeah, we’ve learned a lot of lessons, and as long as we learn quickly if we take those lessons into days like this, affair.
So, I think then it will help us continue to grow.”
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