Pirates’ Erasmus has no hard feelings towards ex-lover Sundowns

Emotions tend to be a high when a player plays against their former team, but, Orlando Pirates striker Kermit Erasmus disagrees and doesn’t feel any emotion when they play against Mamelodi Sundowns.

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Erasmus left Sundowns just before the start of last season to return to the Buccaneers, with the striker departing the Pretoria side because of a lack of game time.

Ever since getting back to Pirates, Erasmus tends to perform to his best when playing against Sundowns. The striker even scored for Bucs when they faced Downs in the second leg of the semi-finals of the same competition last season which they won 3-0, and helped the club to go on and lift the trophy.

The goal-poacher says he still has good relationship with the Downs players, and it’s just that when they are on the field everyone is just there to do their job, with the two teams set to lock-horn in the MTN8 final at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday.

“There are no emotions playing against my former team, I’ve was only there for two seasons. I have no animosity with anyone at the club, I’m good with the players and still friends with them,” said the Bucs forward.

“It’s a game that both teams want to win, so, there are no friends on the field during the 90 minutes. We are there to work and we are there to grind out a result and be victorious.”

With the Buccaneers going into the clash against Downs on the back of some poor results, the veteran striker believes they should build on their performances against Jwaneng Galaxy of Botswana in the Caf Champions League – they won 1-0 , but ended up losing 5-4 on penalties after ending the two legged tie 1-1 on aggregate.

‘A step in the right direction’

“The last game we played well, yes we didn’t convert the chances we created, but it’s a step in the right direction. If you take the positives from the game I think we can build on that. The preparations have been good this week, we are focussing on what we need to do,” added the 33-years old striker.

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“Firstly, the plan has to be executed in the correct manner. I think from that, we will be able to create chances. I think the most important thing is executing the plan from the best of our abilities as players. From that the creation of goals will be there, we just need a bit of composure and calmness and executing the final result of the action.”

The Buccaneers go into this final having beaten the Brazilians on their way to lifting the very same trophy last season, which has to give them extra hope they can spring another surprise on Saturday.