Pitso happy with Pirates’ CAF presence
SOUTH AFRICAN football has made huge strides in continental club football in the past five years.
The spark was Orlando Pirates’ run to the final of the 2013 Champions League.
Now, for the first time in history, the country will have two teams in the group stage of the continent’s premier club knockout competition after Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns won at the weekend.
The Buccaneers overcame Namibia’s African Stars 1-0 in Windhoek while the Brazilians romped to a 4-0 victory over Libya’s Al’Ahly Benghazi at Loftus.
The two giants will discover their group stage opponents when the draw is conducted in Cairo on Friday.
“This is what we need,” Mosimane said after their match. “Look at the north Africans, they always have two teams in the group stage, sometimes in the same group. I think it’s possible we could be in the same group as Pirates. I don’t think we will be in the same pot. We’ll probably be in Pot B and they can’t be ahead of us in terms of points. So if we aren’t in the same pot there’s a possibility that we could be in the same group.”
Should the Buccaneers and Sundowns meet each other in the group stage or even in the knockout stage, that would be another piece of history as no South African teams have faced each other in this competition. “It’s going to be tough because we’ve now added six games into our programmes,” Mosimane said. “And you have to travel. That’s why I always tip Wits to be at the forefront of the league race because they are a wellrested team.”
It’s quite fitting that the first two local teams to be in the group stage at the same time are the only South Africans clubs with a star on top of their badge as befits those who conquered the continent – which Pirates did in 1995 and Sundowns in 2016. Pirates and Sundowns fought for the Absa Premiership title last season.
The Brazilians eventually claimed the title with Pirates second. Mosimane threw shots at Pirates throughout that race, saying they can’t compare themselves with his team as Sundowns also did battle in the Champions League while the Soweto side only had the league to worry about.
“The Champions League is big league football,” Mosimane said. “That’s what we need (two clubs in the group stage). That’s the marathon I have been talking about. If you want to compare, you must compare apples with apples. Let’s run the same race. If I run 90km, from Maritzburg to Durban, don’t do 45km and then say you’re better than me. Do 90km also and let’s see.”
Last year SuperSport United and Platinum Stars became the first pair of South African teams to play in the group stage of the CAF Confederation Cup in the same year. Dikwena crashed out of the group stage, and went on to get relegated, Matsatsantsa a Pitori reached the final, which they lost to TP Mazembe.