This far and no more Bidvest Wits boss Gavin on the hunt to end South African clubs’ Caf horror show against Horoya
The Bidvest Wits coach defends the club’s commitment to the Caf club competitions, saying they always give it their best shot
● Facing a team that has given Orlando Pirates, Mamelodi Sundowns and SuperSport United a good run for their money in African club competitions would instill fear.
But such is the confidence Gavin Hunt has in his Bidvest Wits side, he feels anything less than three points against Horoya AC at Dobsonville Stadium today would be tragic.
For three seasons in a row the Guinean team has faced a South African team in the group stages of the two Confederation of African Football (Caf) club competitions. And in those six matches Horoya impressively lost one, won one and drew the other four.
Got to score at home
The saga started in 2017 against SuperSport United in the group stages of the Confederation Cup when Horoya held Amatsatsantsa 2-2 in Pretoria before playing a goalless draw in Conakry.
Horoya managed exactly the same scoreline against Mamelodi Sundowns in the 2018 Caf Champions League edition, the only difference being the fact that the 2-2 draw was in Conakry and 0-0 stalemate in Pretoria.
Pirates thought they would be an exception when they won 3-0 at home in the group stages of the Champions League last season. But armed with an array of west and north African stars, Horoya rallied to win 2-1 in Conakry to end the dreams of Milutin Sredojevic’s team of progressing to the knockout phase.
“I don’t know anything about them,” said Hunt when asked what he expects of the Guinean team in what will be match day one in Group C of this season’s Caf Confederation Cup in Soweto at 6pm.
“I think knowing too much about the opposition team is a little bit overrated. You got to do the business yourself. We’ll look at the video, but what is in front of you is there.
“They’ve got a big striker (Aristide Bance, who played for Chippa United in the PSL in the 2015-16 season). He does well.
“Obviously we’ve got to score at home and try not to concede. That’s the nature of these types of games.”
Bance scored a hat-trick for Horoya when they beat Bandari of Kenya 5-1 on aggregate to qualify for the group stages.
With a trip to Mali to play Djoliba next Sunday following straight after this game, Hunt is right in pushing for all three points at home.
A win today and a draw in Mali will set Wits up nicely for their back-to-back meetings with Libyan side Al-Nasr at home on December 29 and away on January 16.
The Wits coach revealed he was not a happy camper with Caf moving their home games from their spiritual home in Milpark, saying it’s not up to their standards.
“That’s really upset me because there’s going to be no one at the game (in Dobsonville),” said Hunt.
“Our pitch is beautiful, but we’re now going to Dobsonville. I want to know where we’re going to play in Mali, Guinea and Libya. In some of these places they’ve got no change rooms, no doors and some of the markings on the field would have been done a month ago. We’ve got the best fields in SA.”
Hunt said he was happy to participate in the Confed Cup, but worries about the tight domestic schedule it brings to his team.
“The problem is we’re playing next week Wednesday (December 11) and we arrive back on Tuesday after long hours in the air. And we’re going to have to fly to Durban (to play Golden Arrows) after that.
Give us a breather
“I don’t know how we’re going to do that. The game should be moved to Thursday to give us a breather. We’ll have to make that request to the PSL.”
It is such talk that has seen Wits being labelled as one SA team that is not quite keen to play in the Caf competitions, but Hunt vehemently disagrees with that notion.
“Look, I love the games, the more we play the better,” says Hunt of their commitment.
“We’ve always had a push to win trophies in Africa. We lost to Al Ahly (of Egypt) three years ago, 1-0 over two legs.
“We lost to Primeiro de Agosto (Angola) on penalties and we lost to Enyimba (Nigeria) on away goals. Look at the size of Wits compared to three big clubs in SA. We don’t have that.
“Nobody says a lot about Orlando Pirates getting knocked out. Nobody says a word. But poor old Wits they have a go at them. And Pirates? What happened to them? Nobody said a word about them. It leaves a bad taste in the mouth because we do try.”
“Nobody says a lot about Orlando Pirates getting knocked out (of Caf competitions)
Gavin Hunt
Bidvest Wits head coach