WITS FEEL AL AHLY ARE BEATABLE
Klate has insight on Egyptian giants
DAINE Klate has insisted that it will be mission possible for Bidvest Wits when they take on Al Ahly in the CAF Champions League round of 32 clash tomorrow at Cairo International Stadium (6.30pm SA time). The Clever Boys winger is best placed to assess their first-leg chances against the Egyptian giants considering he faced them four times while in Orlando Pirates colours in 2013. Pirates faced Al Ahly in the group stage of the Champions League and won 3-0 away and drew 0-0 at home. They met again in the final later on that year and drew 1-1 in Soweto, before Bucs lost 2-0 in Cairo. Klate and Sifiso Myeni are two of the current Wits players who have faced Al Ahly while most of their teammates have no CAF experience. “These are the moments that as a player you try to be relevant and if you get a result there, people will remember Wits going away to Al Ahly and getting a good result,” said Klate yesterday after training at Sturrock Park. “So it is all about giving it our best shot and obviously we are the underdogs.” The Port Elizabeth-born winger also weighed in on claims that Wits coach Gavin Hunt is not interested in doing well in Africa and would rather focus on the domestic league. Klate jumped to Hunt’s defence and said people must understand that Wits are still growing and doing their best to strike a balance between domestic and international football. “It’s a fine line... You can’t be African champions if you haven’t conquered your own country,” he argued. “But we are going to give it a go. So we are trying and the club is growing. If we win, we go to the group stages but it won’t be the end of the world if we don’t,” he added.