It’s been congratulations and pats on the back as Orlando Pirates qualified for the quarterfinals of the CAF Confederations Cup. The latest praise comes from a former CAF Champions League winner.
The Buccaneers were, however, made to sweat for qualification and despite a 1-0 loss to Enyimba FC in Aba on Wednesday night, scaled through, albeit in second place in the group.
A former Pirates striker and CAF Champions League winner, Bruce Ramokgadi, has come out to make a bold prediction. Having won the premier African club title in 1995, he believes that the Bucs can make it to the finals of the CAF Confederations Cup.
“Now that the team has reached the quarter-finals, there’s a big possibility to reach the final of the Confederation Cup. It’s the knockout stages and everything is possible. They played with a depleted team against Enyimba due to injuries but managed to hold on until right at the end when they conceded. It was the goalkeeper’s mistake that led to the goal,” said Ramokgadi.
He praised the lads for the efforts they put in Aba and opined that now they’d understand the importance of the competition.
“At least they know the significance of playing in these continental competitions. (In 1995 when Pirates won the Champions League), we were just enjoying ourselves and didn’t realize how significant that competition was. No one explained to us what was at stake. All knew was that we would be competing against teams from the other parts of Africa and that was all.
“It was only after we qualified for the final that we saw that the competition was huge and was taken seriously. On the day of the final in the second leg in Abidjan, we were shocked to see so many fans turning up for the match. My advice to the Pirates coach is to always try and play his best possible team despite the injuries that are affecting his planning. Unfortunately, injuries are part of the game and there’s nothing he or anyone can do about them,” Ramokgadi added.
The draws for the quarterfinals of the CAF Confederation Cup come up later on Friday. On paper, Pirates would be hoping for a favorable draw as they seek to go all the way in the continent.