Go for it Pirates!
SOUTH African soccer has for many years suffered the indignity of under-achievement despite the rich resources it enjoys.
Even the increased fortunes the local league has enjoyed after signing a massive TV rights deal with a satellite channel did not help reverse the poor form by local clubs, which continued to lose official fixtures to clubs from struggling leagues on the continent.
Local giants Orlando Pirates are standing on the verge of changing this misadventure for SA football, even more for clubs. Tomorrow the Bucs host the first leg of the 2013 CAF Champions League final against defending champions Al Ahly of Egypt. The home side do not need to look far for inspiration.
The fact that they will be playing at Orlando Stadium should be enough to lift them to the heavens of the legends who plied their trade here ages ago.
This space is not enough to list these trailblazers and their achievements at Orlando, which is also known as the spiritual home of local soccer.
It will be a new chapter of glory if the current crop of Pirates were to begin their journey to be crowned Africa champions for the second time at this iconic stadium.
Apart from the R15-million first prize on offer, the club that wins this tournament qualifies for the Fifa Club World Cup in December. Imagine Orlando Pirates battling it out with the likes of Bayern Munich for world honours.
That will be the ultimate level our football had been aspiring to reach for more than a decade, and should that happen through Pirates, then we will know our game cannot afford any slip-up again.
How do we embrace mediocrity when we have reached these heights? There’s no turning back now; the world is at your feet Mabhakaniya.
Rein in the Red Devils of Cairo and make SA proud.
It is also commendable that the SA Football Association president Danny Jordaan has issued a statement asking all football lovers in the country to cast aside their club allegiances and come out in great numbers to pack Orlando Stadium tomorrow.
“This is the defining moment not just for Pirates but for our football in general,” Jordaan said in his statement.
Also on the glory trail for SA sport are the Proteas. Today, the national cricket team meet Pakistan in Dubai for the second one-day international in their five-match series.
On Thursday night the Proteas drew very deep into their resources to win the opening match by one run in Sharjah, UAE. Here’s hoping for more of the same today.