Mandla Ncikazi believes Orlando Pirates proved to the club’s supporters that they are still a force to be reckoned with following their qualification to the Caf Confederations quarterfinals.
Pirates concluded their group stage campaign at the summit of Group B with 13 points in six matches. In their final group game, the Soweto giants drew 0-0 against Al Ittihad in front of a few thousand Bucs fans at Orlando Stadium on Sunday.
It was the first time in more than two years. Pirates fans set foot at Orlando Stadium to witness the club in action.
“It was nice to see them back, the atmosphere was different, the weather conditions [chilly], I don’t think they allowed all of them to be back and at the same time the rules of how they should be back. I am sure as time goes, we will see more,” said Ncikazi.
The club had put up 15,000 tickets for sale as the Premier Soccer League (PSL) finally allowed fans to return to stadiums following the government’s announcement to increase stadia attendance capacity to 50%.
“Pirates have got quality; you can see that we are a team that wants to dominate matches, use the ball well. And the bigger picture, the supporters being here [at the stadium], we displayed that we are still a good team in welcoming them back,” added Ncikazi.
“It would have been nice to top that up with scoring and winning, but they saw the effort from the team. Let’s just grow from this. We achieved the bigger goal of qualifying on top of the group. That was our main objective.”
