Bacela expecting an open game as Bucs face SuperSport
NO ONE loves playing against SuperSport United more than Orlando Pirates striker Lennox Bacela.
Not only does he get the opportunity to terrorise his best friend, SuperSport defender Thabo September, but he knows that he has a very good chance of getting on the score sheet.
The two clubs meet in an MTN8 quarter-final clash at Orlando Stadium on Saturday (8.15pm), and Bacela is hoping for a repeat of last season’s extraordinary performance in the same knockout competition against the same opponents.
In that game, he scored a brace in a four-goal thriller before the Buccaneers won on penalties.
“I seem to be lucky when we play SuperSport, because even when I was at Celtic I did well against them,” said Bacela, who scored three times in two cup matches against Matsatsantsa last season.
“Thabo and I do talk prior to the matches we play. Obviously one does want to do better than the other one. Unfortunately, he is a defender and I am a striker,” Bacela laughed.
“Yes he is my best friend, but I don’t think it has anything to do with that.
“SuperSport are a very offensive team, while other teams that play against us are very defensive. So with SuperSport, we know we are going to get an open game – it’s the type of game you enjoy.
“When we played them in the MTN8 last season there were four goals. Hopefully when we meet again it will be an open game,” the Bucs marksman said.
Bacela, who won just one competition last season despite reaching five finals with the Buccaneers, believes Pirates will be more consistent this season.
And winning the MTN8 would set the tone for the campaign ahead.
“Last season we played in the Champions League, and then we had to play catch-up. This season we won’t have the many interruptions we had last season, so I think it will be much easier for us to focus.”
Pirates coach Vladimir Vermezovic is wary of SuperSport, who made some good signings during the transfer window.
“The game is going to be difficult. We know they have lost some players, but they have also signed some excellent players.”
The Buccaneers, meanwhile, announced the signing of Mpumalanga Black Aces winger Thabo Qalinge.
Kaizer Chiefs have signed Zimbabwean winger Ovidy Karuru and under-20 international Phakamani Mngadi, on loan from Belgian club KAS Eupen. MANCHESTER: New Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has warned fans not to expect instant success, saying it will take three months for his players to get used to his style and methods.
The Dutchman, brought in following the sacking of David Moyes less than 10 months after taking the job at Old Trafford, is introducing a new 3-41-2 formation and increasing the technical demands on his players.
United, who finished out of sorts and outside the European places in seventh last season, play Swansea City, Sunderland and Burnley in their first three Premier League matches. But despite a relatively comfortable start, Van Gaal warned against immediate success.
“Every club where I have been, I have struggled for the first three months,” Van Gaal told reporters on the club’s pre-season tour of the US.
“After that, they know what I want, how I am as a human being and also as a manager, because I am very direct.
“I say things as they are, so