BUCS READY TO SLAY RED DEVILS
Speed will be key, says Okpara
ORLANDO Pirates are aware that beating Al Ahly in the CAF Champions League final could be positive for the country, says William Okpara.
The Buccaneers meet Ahly in the first leg at Orlando Stadium tomorrow night, then in Cairo next Sunday. It’s a case of the team with the most pedigree in the Champions League – Ahly, with seven titles, five since 2001 – against arguably the form side of this year’s competition, Pirates.
The north vs south dimension and contrast in styles between the superbly organised Egyptians and quick and skilful South Africans make this year’s final a potential thriller.
When Okpara played every minute of Bucs’ 10 games on the path to beating Asec Mimosas of Abidjan in the 1995 final, it proved a turning point for SA after a rocky reintroduction to the global stage.
Okpara, a goalkeeper coach for Pirates before becoming team liaison, said the current generation was aware continental success might have a similar effect again after a decade of struggle for SA football.
“That ’ s what we have in mind. If we can win this cup, South African football can win back some respect in Africa,” Okpara said.
He said the current Bucs side, successive treble winners in 2011 and 2012, always seemed the best bet to match the 1995 class.
While the second star on the jersey has become a somewhat over-repeated rallying call for Bucs, Okpara said writing their own name in Pirates and SA’s football history has been a major motivation for the players.
He added: “Ahly play like a European team. For me, the best way to play Ahly is to not give them space to play their game, and when you get the ball you have to be fast on the counter-attacks. If you attack early, they will not settle.”
Central midfielders Oupa Manyisa and Andile Jali have an important ball-winning and creative role to play.
With goals a priority, wingers, Daine Klate and Tlou Segolela or Sifiso Myeni will be tasked with getting behind Ahly. Then coach Roger de Sa can only hope they and striker Lennox Bacela have their finishing boots on.
AS Orlando Pirates contemplate the possibility of winning the African Champions League, it throws up some delicious prospects for next year.
For starters, Pirates will be forced to play in the competition again, even as they battle to catch up with all of their domestic assignments.
CAF rules clearly state the winner must take part in the next edition or face a two-year ban and a hefty fine.
If Pirates return to the 2014 Champions League field, they will join up with Kaizer Chiefs who compete as the Premier Soccer League winners in May.
The delicious prospect of a Soweto derby in the group phase of the Champions League is not without precedent.
Cairo rivals Al Ahly and Zamalek have been in the same group twice before as have Esperance and their Tunisian archrivals Etoile du Sahel.
CAF will keep Chiefs and Pirates apart in the early knockout rounds but there are no rules about the two sides having to be separated once the group draw is made if they get that far.
Should the Buccaneers win this year’s Champions League they also get to host the one-off Super Cup against the winner of the African Confederation Cup, already set down for the weekend of February 22-23 next year.
The match is hosted by the Champions League winners and Pirates could be up against their former coach Ruud Krol, who won the league for them in 2011. Krol’s CS Sfaxien of Tunisia meet TP Mazembe of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the Confederation Cup final later in the month.
For Bucs a more immediate incentive for winning the final against Ahly is participation in next month’s Fifa Club World Cup.