Pirates possess same quality of players as Sundowns – Makaringe

The quality in the Mamelodi Sundowns squad doesn’t scare Orlando Pirates midfielder Fortune Makaringe, who believes Bucs have the same quality as the Brazilians.

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Makaringe made these claims ahead of the teams clash in the first leg of the MTN8 semi-finals at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday.

Makaringe has so much faith in the Buccaneers squad, and says the level of competition for places currently in the team makes him believe that the club can go out to claim any silverware.

“Maybe we are so much of an egocentric team, we care about ourselves and the players we have in our team. We don’t talk about them, all we know is that we have good players and it is good see that the competition is high and it gives us a positive edge that we have everything in our power to fight for something,” said Makaringe.

Makaringe is likely to go up against Sundowns skipper Andile Jali, Teboho Mokoena, Sipho Mbule where the game might be won, the Pirates midfielder says it shows that there is a lot of competition in South African football.

“It tells you that the football in South Africa is getting somewhere. But to be honest, for us, it is not about midfield because we complement one another, so it is about the whole department. For us as midfielders to look good, our strikers and defenders have to make us look good as much as we make them look good.”

The Soweto giants edged Royal AM 2-1 to reach this stage of the MTN8, while Sundowns beat their Pretoria rivals SuperSport United 2-0 to book a place in the semi-finals.