Pirates focused on the bigger picture
ORLANDO Pirates survived a late surge of pressure from Libya’s Al Ahly Tripoli at Orlando Stadium on Sunday to book their place in Friday’s CAF Confederation Cup final at Uyo Stadium in Nigeria.
Buccaneers co-coach Mandla Ncikazi believes the dynamics of the game – which Pirates lost 1-0 to advance 2-1 on aggregate – may have affected his side’s performance at different stages, but it was important to always keep the bigger picture in mind.
“Let’s thank the players for taking the team into the final, let’s thank the supporters for coming
(on Sunday) – the weather was not the best and one must be grateful,” Ncikazi said after the match
“It was a tough match, (but) bigger picture we went into the final. Could we have done it in a better or cleaner way?
“Yes, but subconsciously you could see the scoreline that we had, the dynamics behind this match was affecting our team but we controlled the match well.”
The Buccaneers started the match on the back foot as expected as they had a two-goal buffer to defend. Al Ahly Tripoli had to take the initiative as they looked for an early goal to fire them back into the tie.
The last stanza, however, saw an open game as the away side threw numbers forward and left gaps at the back for the likes of Thembinkosi Lorch and Deon Hotto to exploit.
“In the second half we could see a difference from the opposition and we had already highlighted a few things. You could see this team was playing without fear, throwing everything at us,” Ncikazi explained.
“I’m just proud that the team achieved the bigger goal. At the beginning of the competition, if you were to say Pirates were going to be
in the final, one would have been grateful.”
Ncikazi would’ve been disappointed with his side’s failure to keep a clean sheet as they conceded an 89th minute goal, but the former Golden Arrows mentor opted to think positively ahead of a final showdown with Moroccan side RS Berkane.
“Let’s take the bigger picture and work on the small elements that one picked up preparing for Nigeria, which is going to be very tough,” the
Pirates coach said.
The Sea Robbers will need to be at their best to claim a first Confederation Cup title when they come up against a Berkane side competing in their third final in four years.