Bucs can go the distance — coach
PIRATES can go all the way in the Caf Confederation Cup, said coach Eric Tinkler, praising his team following a 4-1 second-leg, play-off stage victory against AS Kaloum.
ORLANDO Pirates can go all the way in the Caf Confederation Cup, said coach Eric Tinkler, praising his team’s professionalism following a stirring 4-1 second-leg, play-off stage victory against AS Kaloum, at Bidvest Stadium on Saturday.
Pirates smashed the Guinean champions 6-1 on aggregate to storm into the group stages.
In that sort of form, and with Bucs’ pedigree of having reached the 2013 Caf Champions League final, the team will have some self-belief of perhaps even going one further in the Confed.
“I do, otherwise I wouldn’t be here,” Tinkler said when pressed about whether he believed Bucs could win the competition.
Pirates’ determination to fly the flag for SA on the continent has shown through again, despite this having resulted in a situation in which their Confed squad players would have a oneweek off-season.
Bucs’ three Bafana Bafana call-ups to the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Gambia in Durban on Saturday — Oupa Manyisa, Thabo Matlaba and Patrick Phungwayo — will not even have that.
Tinkler said Pirates had learnt from 2013, and left five spaces open to register new players signed during the offseason. He said he had consulted sports scientists on how long to give his players time off before they return to prepare for their first group stage game against Congo’s AC Leopards in Dolisie, on the weekend of June 26.
The coach praised the professionalism his players showed in training into their off-season.
“It was three weeks ago we played Kaloum away, and the league had come to an end and all the other teams gone on holiday,” Tinkler said.
“It’s not been easy for the players to continue, but they showed great professionalism.
“And especially today because, yes, we got a positive result away from home. But I think everyone saw today that Kaloum are a very difficult team to play,” the coach said.
“We needed to be very professional in not allowing complacency to set in.”
Tinkler, assistant to Roger de Sa when Pirates lost to Al Ahly in the 2013 Champions League final, said Bucs’ target was to meet the giants of Africa again.
“We set ourselves the objective of getting through to the group phase because the technical staff and players alike, we all wanted to be back at this stage, playing against the big teams of Africa — the CS Sfax- iens and the AC Leopardses.
“Everybody knows what it will take to get a result away to Leopards — we lost to them in 2013. It’s not an easy journey to go on, but it’s one we’ve all been wanting to do again — this time, do it the right way, hopefully.”
Pirates put on a display of classic South African football against Kaloum, overwhelming the West Africans with skill and sophistication. Thamsanqa Gabuza, who played four league games in 2014-15, extended his rich Confed form with a brace.
“I told him when he joined Pirates, he needed to be patient,” Tinkler said. “Because this is a big club with big-name players and stars. And he was a youngster coming in, so he needed to work very hard.
“Obviously, it was extremely frustrating for him,” the Pirates coach said.
“But his application in training has remained at the highest standard. We knew that Gabuza would be influential in the Confed because of his size and aggression,” he said.
It’s not been easy for the players. They showed great professionalism