Orlando Pirates train on astroturf to topple African Stars in Caf Champions League

Orlando Pirates captain Happy Jele is hopeful that his team can finish their scoring chances in the second leg. Photo: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

Orlando Pirates captain Happy Jele is hopeful that his team can finish their scoring chances in the second leg. Photo: Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

Published Dec 20, 2018

Share

Having been unable to break down the opposition defence in the first leg, Orlando Pirates have gone all out to be ready to score goals in their Caf Champions League second leg against African Stars of Namibia.

The Buccaneers were held to a goalless draw by the unfancied Namibian outfit in Orlando, and will have to reach the group stages with a victory at the Sam Nujoma Stadium in Windhoek on Saturday (4pm SA time kickoff).

Coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic would’ve drilled his attackers this week to find the back of the net after they missed a host of chances in the first leg.

In fact, the Serbian mentor has gone as far as taking his players to an astroturf facility to prepare for the expected surface in Namibia.

“We know it won’t be a walk in the park, but we are prepared to fight and do whatever it takes to come out tops here,” Pirates captain Happy Jele told the club website.

“We have been training at the Nike Centre in Soweto this week in order to acclimatise to the conditions, because we know the match will be played on astroturf and in extremely hot conditions.

“We have done all we can to prepare adequately, and now all that is left is to go and get the job done.”

Jele felt that despite the lack of goals in the first leg, the fact that they had opportunities to score proved that they could produce the decisive goals on Saturday.

“Ideally we would have preferred to win the match at home convincingly, but we played against a good defensive side. They were compact and well organised at the back”, Jele said.

“It is true we missed a lot of chances and that is regrettable, but the flip side of that is that we played positive attacking football, despite the defensive block we had to contend with.

“The fact that we were able to create chances tells us that it is possible to penetrate their defence, and that is what we are preparing for.”

☠ African Stars vs @orlandopirates

🌍 CAF Champions League 2018/19 Preliminary Round

📅 22 December 2018

🏟 Stade Sam Nujoma Stadium

🕓 16h00 SAST

🎫 @PicknPay Namibia Only

🎟🎟 @WebticketsNA➡️ https://t.co/mCNsgJTQty

⚫⚪🔴⭐ #CAFCL #OnceAlways pic.twitter.com/rxbKoxlqq6

— Orlando Pirates FC (@orlandopirates) December 20, 2018

@ashfakmohamed

IOL Sport

Like IOL Sport on Facebook

Follow IOL Sport on Twitter

Related Topics:

caf champions league