Pirates seek finishing touch as they look to turn over Simba in Confed Cup

Creating and finishing off goalscoring chances is probably the most important part of Orlando Pirates training this week, ahead of Sunday’s second leg of their quarterfinal clash with Simba SC in the Caf Confederation Cup at Orlando Stadium.

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Last weekend in Tanzania, where Bucs lost 1-0 through a penalty in the first leg, the South Africans didn’t seem to bother Simba’s defence that much, at least for most of the match.

According to the stats, the Soweto giants only had seven shots at goal, with only three on target, while Simba managed to threaten the Bucs goals with 17 shots – five of them on target.

The lack of opportunities has given the Buccaneers co-coach Mandla Ncikazi a task that needs to be fixed if they are to qualify for the semifinals of the tournament, and he says the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) will be fully functional in the country after he wasn’t happy with transpired in Dar Es Salaam.

“You have seen the game; it didn’t go the way we planned but we still have an opportunity in South Africa and VAR will be working! I will make sure that it works so that you treat other human beings in a correct way, not like animals, the way we have been treated here,” said the Bucs mentor.

“We were not as clinical (as we would like), we didn’t take as many shots at goal, maybe that is an area that I think needs to improve. When we went wide, we didn’t make an attempt to pass into the box or create a scoring opportunity and that should improve. We still have an opportunity in our home country.”

The Buccaneers will be boosted by the return of centre back Olisa Ndah, who served a suspension in the last game. His return will be vital for Bucs at the back, with the Nigerian’s solid defending really needed for Simba’s dangerous and skillful forwards like Pape Sakho and ex-Pirates player Bernard Morrison, who won the penalty.