Bucs to make history against Guineans
ORLANDO Pirates coach Milutin “Micho” Sredojevic has challenged his team to do what no South African side has done against Horoya when they host the Guineans at Orlando Stadium today (6pm).
Tshwane giants SuperSport United and Mamelodi Sundowns failed to beat Horoya in the last two years.
The Brazilians were held to a goalless draw in Atteridgeville last year after playing to a 2-2 draw in Conakry in the group stage of the CAF Champions League. Matsatsantsa a Pitori achieved those results in reverse. They were held 2-2 at home and drew 0-0 in Guinea in the 2017 CAF Confederation Cup.
Horoya are in the country for a third successive year. They trained at the match venue last night, buoyed having held reigning African champions Esperance 1-1 in their first match of this season’s Champions League group stage. Pirates drew 0-0 with FC Platinum in Bulawayo.
“I have played against their current coach Patrice Neveu when he was still the national team coach of Mauritania,” Sredojevic said.
“We played several matches against each other. Even though he is a Frenchman, he plays a different brand of football compared to their previous coach who faced Sundowns and SuperSport.
“In four matches our teams couldn’t beat Horoya. This is a chance for us as a country to register our first win over Horoya, to say that we are tough when we are playing at home. You aren’t going to come to Johannesburg and dance in your own way. We want to stamp our authority and represent the country in the best possible way.”
Even though the Buccaneers are playing at home, they are the underdogs against last year’s quarterfinalists in the Champions League. Pirates have been absent in this space since 2013 when they went all the way to the final and lost to Egyptian giants Al-Ahly.
Horoya are a tough team to break down, they like to bully their opponents with their physique and aerial strength.
“I don’t call them Horoya, I call them the United Nations of West Africa,” Sredojevic said. “Their president is a very ambitious person, Antonio Souare, who is also the vice-president of Guinea’s Football Federation. He has assembled top class talent from West Africa plus the best talent in Guinea. They have 15 foreign players in their team, which talks volumes of their ambitions.
“This serves to motivate us more. We know that we are playing against a team with good individuals and they have experience of playing in the group stage of the Champions League and Confederation Cup in the last two years.”
In contrast, Pirates have a handful of players – captain Happy Jele, Asavela Mbekile and Augustine Mulenga – who have played in the group stage of the Champions League.