Royal Leopards coach unfazed by high-ranked Pirates

Orlando Pirates next opponents in the Caf Confederation Cup Royal Leopards are relatively an unknown side in Group B of the continent’s second top club competition, which includes JS Saoura and Al-Ittihad, and head coach Edwin Matsebula is unfazed by all of that.

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Leopards though, have been participating in the Caf competitions since 2007, with four appearances in the Caf Champions League and two appearances in the Confederation Cup before this season, but this is the first time they have managed to reach the group phase.

Even in terms of club rankings, the eSwatini club are not ranked, whereas all their opponents have rankings, with the Buccaneers are ranked 22nd in Africa and 407 in the world. Algeria’s Saoura are ranked 24th and 413 in the world while Libya giants, Al-Ittihad are positioned 84 in Africa and 846 in the world.

Matsebula, whose side lost 2-0 to the Algerians in their first game, says rankings don’t really mean teams are good. Leopards will host the Buccaneers at the Mbombela Stadium on Sunday after the eSwatini club could not find a suitable venue for the clash.

 “While in some way, the ranking reflects the strength of a team, it may not necessarily mean they are better than the team that has not been ranked. In football anything is possible as long as you work hard and believe in yourself,” Matsebula was quoted by Times of Swaziland.

“Those two goals they scored were both penalties so they dived to get those goals. In fact JS Kabylie are stronger than JS Saoura.

Matsebula went on to tell the publication that they will approach the Bucs game with respect and they hope for a positive result, while stating that it was a dream for them to reach this stage of the tournament so that they be recognised and ranked in Africa.