Pirates coach Micho relieved after winning a ‘war’
Orlando Pirates coach Micho Sredojevic admitted his side did not have a good start in their battle with AmaZulu in the quarterfinals of the Telkom Knockout.
Milutin Sredojevic, head coach of Orlando Pirates (Pic Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix)
The Buccaneers needed extra time to ensure that they booked their spot in the semifinals of the Telkom Knockout after beating Usuthu 3-1 courtesy of a Thembinkosi Lorch brace and a Xola Mlambo goal at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday.
“It was a football war. We started badly inside the first 15 minutes because the wind was pushing so much and we are not used to that and we wanted to play from the back,” said the Bucs coach.
“The opponents put us under pressure. We absorbed that pressure and scored a goal. And then we conceded at a critical phase where we should have kept our concentration.
“At half-time we insisted on certain things that had to happen because we didn’t shorten the distance, relations and the gaps that appeared. In the second half we tried our best.
“We had a clear chance at the end but didn’t score from that. The opponents also came up in the second half, it was like two boxers punching each other and the game could have gone either way.
“We enforced important aspects into extra time and exactly we got paid two minutes of extra time. In the first 15 minutes we got one goal and in the second 15 minutes we got our second goal and this is what made the result go our way,” he added.
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Bucs midfielder Xola Mlambo shared his coach’s sentiments, also stating that it was not a simple task for the Buccaneers to get the win against a stubborn AmaZulu.
“It wasn’t an easy game for us, as you saw AmaZulu are undoubtedly a good side and we had to give our all because they gave us a big run for our money. But we wanted to go to the next stage of the tournament, and we are taking it one game at a time,” said the midfielder.
The win saw the Soweto giants extend their unbeaten run to nine games in all competitions and will be looking to continue with their good form when they take on Polokwane City at the Peter Mokaba Stadium tomorrow night.
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