Pirates brimming with confidence as focus shifts to Confed Cup

With the focus now on the second leg of the Caf Confederation Cup  against JS Saoura on Sunday where a win guarantees them a place in the knock-out stages, Orlando Pirates co-coach Mandla Ncikazi is happy that his team left the country with their tails held high.

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This is after the Buccaneers beat SuperSport United 3-2 in the DStv Premiership match last Wednesday, thanks to a good fighting spirit by Bucs,  which saw them coming-back from 2-0 down to end up winning the fixture, a day before they departed to Algeria for the clash with Saoura.

Pirate’s win was a good thing for the team ahead of their journey to the North African country and now, Ncikazi says it’s important for his team to get a positive result in Algeria.

“It was good that we won (against SuperSport). It brings confidence in the team now that we are going away and you must go there with confidence. What I can highlight is recovery. You can’t train. It is a long journey where we have connecting flights and wait at airports,” said Ncikazi this week.

“We just have to do what we have to and try to get a result and come back and continue with a journey in the remaining fixtures that we have. It is important that we get a result from the two matches that are remaining. Whether we win against JS Saoura or draw, it will be important that we win the match that we will play at home.”

The Buccaneers go into this match at the top of Group B standings with nine points after four matches, followed by Saoura and Libyan outfit Al-Ittihad who are both tied on seven points and Royal Leopards are last in the group with the eSwatini side yet to register any points.

A win for the Soweto giants will take their point tally to 12 points and see them through to the quarter-finals of the continental l tournament as one the top two teams with one game to play, which is a home fixture against the club from Libya.

In the first leg meeting between Bucs and Saoura, the Soweto giants registered a 2-0 victory thanks to goals by Happy Jele and Bandile Shandu.