Simba SC head coach Fadlu Davids has revealed what an ‘important’ Orlando Pirates official said to him after reaching the CAF Confederation Cup final.
Davids and his Simba side booked a spot in the 2025 final of the Confed Cup after a 1-0 aggregate win against Stellenbosch FC in the two-legged semi-final.
The two teams played to a 0-0 draw in the second-leg at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Sunday afternoon. But the Tanzania giants beat the Betway Premiership side 1-0 in Zanzibar last week.
Simba will now meet two-time CAF Confederation Cup champions RS Berkane in the final. This will be Simba’s first CAF competition final ever.
RS Berkane is the same side that defeated Pirates in the final in 2022 when Davids was a co-coach alongside Mandla Ncikazi.
WHAT MESSAGE DID AN ORLANDO PIRATES OFFICIAL SEND TO SIMBA SC COACH?
“I just had a message from one of the important officials at Orlando Pirates, and it says ‘remember it was Berkane that beat us on penalties,” said Davids.
“That match still haunts me. We beat Simba in the quarter-finals. We beat Al Ahli Tripoli, and we got Berkane, and we lost on penalties. So, Berkane is an improved side. We played against this coach [Mouin Chaâbani] last season [with Raja Casablanca].
“But of course, we also have four important league matches now in the space of two weeks before we travel to Morocco. So we will celebrate, have two days off, and focus on collecting our points to catch up to the 12 points that we are behind [Young Africans].”
Meanwhile, Simba are in position two in the Tanzanian Premier League. They trail log leaders and rivals Young Africans by 12 points, but with four games in hand.
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