Orlando Pirates hattrick hero Zakhele Lepasa says he’s grateful to the club’s chairman Irvin Khoza for believing in him when the chips were down.
Lepasa, who returned to Pirates at the start of the new season from loan at SuperSport United, has been in red-hot form for the Soweto giants.
The Bafana Bafana forward has scored five goals in three matches in all competitions in the 2023/24 campaign.
Zakhele Lepasa netted a brace against Royal AM in a league clash last week before firing a hat-trick in to lead Pirates to a 5-0 win over Sekhukhune United in the MTN8 on Saturday evening at Orlando Stadium.
With the thrashing of Sekhukhune in Soweto, Pirates, who are the defending champions, booked a place in the semi-finals.
And with Lepasa playing a vital role by scoring three goals on the night, he thanked the Buccaneers chairman for showing faith in and urging him to return to the club.
The 26-year-old walked away with the Man of the Man of the Match accolade.
LEPASA’S MESSAGE TO PIRATES CHAIRMAN
“I want to thank (club) today for the opportunity. I also want to thank the chairman for believing in me,” Lepasa told SuperSport TV.
“He’s (Khoza) the one who said you need to come back, we need you, you need to work harder because he knows what I’m capable of from playing in the development, how I used to score goals.
“He’s the one who expressed all this confidence in me. And the guys, the way that they welcomed me like I never left. So I’m very happy,” who also missed a penalty in the Sekhukhune game.
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“It should’ve been four [goals]. I’m sad because I practice penalties every day, and it’s one of those,” he admitted.
“But I promise you one thing: if we had another penalty today or if we have another penalty in the next game, I’m taking it, I promise you that.”
In addition, the Soweto-born attacker expressed his happiness with the quality of Pirates squadron.
He said the current Bucs team “is probably the best” he’s played with.
“I’m including everyone, even the ones who are not here yet. People are injured. Our squad is just out of this world,” he added.
“I’m just lucky to be at the finishing end of every move. Like I said, this is a good squad, a lot of competition, I’m just doing my best to work hard.”