Pirates look to start Caf journey on a high

The continental journey begins for Orlando Pirates this weekend as they travel to Zambia, where they take on Green Eagles in a Caf Champions League preliminary qualifying, first leg clash at the Nkoloma Stadium in Lusaka on Saturday.

Milutin Sredojevic and his charges head to Zambia with their heads held high following an impressive opening match in the domestic league, where they recorded a 3-1 victory over Bloemfontein Celtic last weekend.

Pirates will be hoping to do much better in the continental competition after they were knocked out in the group stage last season. Winger Vincent Pule says they are looking to go beyond the group phase this time around, but they will take things step-by-step.

“The Champions League is very interesting, but at the same time, it demands a lot because there is a lot of travelling, which means we have to be able to balance other competition in the PSL so we do not solely focus on Caf,” said the Free State-born winger.

“But we have a very good technical team who will help us to manage our games and every competition we participate in. We did well in Caf last season, but this time around we want to improve from the performance of last season. All it will take is one game at a time and making sure we grind out results home and away. I think we did very well away last season, but now we have to make sure that whether we play home or away, we win.”

Having recruited the likes of Gabadinho Mhango and Austin Muwowo, who have vast experience of playing in continental competitions, Pule is adamant the new guys will add much value in the team and that the depth of the Bucs squad will be crucial this season.

“The guys have played in Africa, so that is good for us because we will be able to learn some things from them. Having them also helps in terms of making our squad stronger. There are lots of things that happen in football like suspensions and injuries, so it helps when we have numbers in the squad.”

The return leg will be played on August 23 at the Orlando Stadium.

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