Bucs must pull all the stops against Raja
Orlando Pirates must shake off their bad performance
Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer will come under sharp scrutiny this afternoon after he put the blame on his charges for focusing on the key Confederation of African Football Cup’s first leg quarter-final and dropping two vital points.
The German mentor’s displeasure comes after the Buccaneers’ away goalless draw with Stellenbosch in a Premiership match midweek, leading up to the clash against Moroccan giants Raja Casablanca in the knock-out stage of the elite African inter-club competition at Orlando Stadium today. Kick-off is at 3pm.
It was a disappointing performance by the Sea Robbers’ standards after they recently seemed like contenders for the league title together with Amazulu and Golden Arrows.
The Confed Cup trophy is Pirates’ only hope for a second trophy in the 2020/21 campaign because as things stand, Sundowns are running away with the league title. The Buccaneers are the winners of the MTN8 Wafa Wafa trophy they clinched earlier this season.
“We have a big game today and maybe the players heads were also on [today’s] game. But that’s not the right way, we are supposed to first play this game and then concentrate on the game.
“First, we have to see for the next game who is available for us. We have a lot of injured players and we hope they come back so we have more competition,” said Zinnbauer.
Boosting Pirates fortunes ahead of the match against Raja is the return of their Ghanaian shot-stopper Richard Ofori following a six-week lay-off through injury.
The Bucs have been dogged by injuries lately, including to their goalgetter Tshegofatso Mabasa, defender and captain Happy Jele, midfielders Terrence Dzukamanja, Thabang Monare and Collins Makgaka. However, the Pirates coach is optimistic some could be available today.
Raja are past holders of three CAF Champions League titles and one Confederation Cup and will be no push-overs after not conceding in their group matches, winning all six, scoring five goals at home and eight away. Pirates finished as runners-up after losing to Étoile du Sahel of Tunisia in the 2015 CAF Cup competitiom.
It is still uncertain if Pirates will be allowed into Morocco for next Sunday’s second-leg match since the north African countries, including Algeria, have stringent no-entry Covid-19 regulations prohibiting South African visitors from entering those countries.