Orlando Pirates Determined to Reach CAF Champions’ League Group Stages!
Orlando Pirates Determined to Reach CAF Champions’ League Group Stages! The Buccaneers are one step away from reaching this goal.
Orlando Pirates Determined to Reach CAF Champions’ League Group Stages! The Buccaneers are one step away from reaching this goal.
Orlando Pirates host Jwaneng Galaxy in the CAF Champions League Qualifier on Friday night. Captain Innocent Maela has revealed the players’ desire to make it into the next round.
The Buccaneers are trailing 1-0 from the first leg in Botswana, two weeks ago. They will have to overturn the deficit if they are going into the group stages.
Pirates will have to find it in them to change their fortunes as of late. They have lost three consecutive matches since the FIFA break, including the loss to Friday’s opponents.
“From the players’ perspective, it will mean everything for us to find ourselves in the group stages so that we can be able to compete with the best the continent has to offer,” the captain told members of the media.
“That is what we want, that is our ambition as the group. We have an opportunity again to go out there to perform well and make sure that we will get the desired results.
“Not at all because it’s the Champions League match. We expected a tough match, a very competitive match, a very tactical match.
“And there is what we got. So, I don’t think we went there with the mindset of being complacent, taking it easy thinking that you’re going to win.
“No, not at all. Because if you have that mindset, then you’ll have problems. So we went there with our focus, with our preparations spot on.
“Unfortunately, the result didn’t favour of us. But I believe we played really, really well and tomorrow there’s another opportunity to get things right,” he added.
The Buccaneers will play against Jwaneng Galaxy at 19h30 on Friday night. Orlando Pirates Determined to Reach CAF Champions’ League Group Stages!