Hotto hoping to make it two in two at Pirates with Confed Cup

Deon Hotto is one of Orlando Pirates’ trusted soldiers although he has been with the Soweto giants for just two seasons now.

The Namibian winger’s never-say-die attitude on the field has helped Pirates in a number of games. And he has struck up a good understanding with the likes of Thembinkosi Lorch and Kwame Peprah in the Buccaneers attack.

Speaking to SABC Sport this week, Hotto says he came to Pirates to win trophies and he is hoping to get his second medal with the club by clinching the Caf Confederation Cup on Friday. 

“When I joined Pirates that was the aim… to come here and win silverware for the team,” says Hotto. “And this is my second year. Last season we won the MTN8 and this year everything is gone: the league, Nedbank Cup, MTN8 and what’s left for us now is the Confederation Cup. So, we have to go all out and get this,” he adds. 

ALSO READ: Davids banking on Ndah to bring Orlando Pirates support in Nigeria

Pirates play RS Berkane of Morocco in the final at Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo, Nigeria on Friday at 9pm. This will probably be the Buccaneers’ biggest challenge so far in the competition. 

Berkane are a formidable side and won the same competition in 2020 and with highly acclaimed coach Florent Ibenge now in charge of the side, they are even more capable of upsetting Pirates in the final.

“Last season we got knocked out in the quarter finals against a North African team which was Raja Casablanca. But we’ve learned a lot from that experience. We now have the experience and that’s why we are in the final… So we will definitely face a team that is quite good technically, with a very good coach, who was at TP Mazembe and now with them. But we are ready for them,” said the 31-year-old.

Like his coach Fadlu Davids, Hotto believes they will get good support in Uyo because they have Nigerian defender Olisa Ndah in the squad. He also says being in the final alone means nothing if they can’t get the trophy.

“We can’t go out there and think ‘okay we are here in the final now’. We have to do the business first. So, our mandate is simple. We just go there and do the business. 

“We will definitely feel at home because all the Nigerians will support us because we have a brother like him (Ndah) in the team so we’ll be at home. The impact is big, you know. But for us as players we just need to go there and do business. 

“We just need to go there and win for the chairman (Irvin Khoza), for the club, for the supporters and for our families. We want to be remembered. We want to be in the history books also.”