Myeni fit for clash against Esperance

ORLANDO Pirates received a major boost yesterday after winger Sifiso Myeni was given the green light to feature in tomorrow’s African Champions League semifinal showdown against Esperance.

“Sifiso trained with the rest of the team and is feeling good. He is available for Saturday’s game,” Pirates administration executive Floyd “Jomo” Mbele said.

Myeni is expected to be in the starting lineup against the Tunisians during this massive continental clash at the Orlando Stadium at 6pm.

“It’s great to be back in action, especially ahead of such a big game. We expect a tough game but the most important thing is to win,” Myeni said.

Myeni sustained a mild groin injury some hours ahead of the MTN8 final against Platinum Stars where Bucs were defeated on penalties. “Esperance are one of the giants of African soccer, but we are not scared of them. We need to win with a bigger margin to ease the pressure when we go to Tunisia.

“It’s been a long journey since February when we started with the preliminaries. We are getting closer to the finish line.

“The support we have been getting has been incredible. Our message to South Africans is that the second gold star is coming,” Myeni said.

The Pirates defence of Siyabonga Sangweni and company will have to keep a close eye on free-scoring Esperance striker Oussama Darragi. Darragi is one of the five Esperance players who are also part of the senior national team of Tunisia.

The other four internationals are Mouelhi Khaled, Traoui Madji, Chemman Khalil and Hichri Walid. Esperance also have two Algerian national team players in defender Anthar Yahia and midfielder Youcef Belaili in their arsenal.

Esperance, who won a silver medal in this tournament after losing to Al Ahly in last year’s final, arrived in the country on Wednesday, promising Pirates they have finally reached the end of the road. The Tunisians will train at the Orlando Stadium tonight.

Meanwhile, Pirates are expected to charge their captain and longest serving player, Lucky Lekgwathi, for bringing the club into disrepute.

Lekgwathi took his disappointment at not playing in their past two games to the media, blaming it on the politics within the club.

He was expected to meet the chairman, Irvin Khoza, and the technical staff yesterday but the meeting was postponed indefinitely.

The 38-year-old Lekgwathi sent an apology saying his father was not well after the death of a relative. He did not attend training yesterday.

“We are still gathering facts on the matter. For now it’s still an internal matter,” Mbele said.

Approached for comment, Lekgwathi said: “All I can say for now is I have apologised.”