Orlando Pirates co-coach Mandla Ncikazi has admitted that the Caf Confederation Cup final against Morocco’s RS Berkane in Uyo, Nigeria, will be a gruelling battle. Pirates booked a spot in the final despite a 1-0 loss to visiting Al Ahli Tripoli on Sunday, progressing 2-1 on aggregate.
RS Berkane, who won the same competition in 2020, thumped TP Mazembe of DRC 4-1 [4-2 on aggregate] to progress to the final. Ncikazi says he is grateful that his charges achieved the more important goal of reaching the final of the Caf Confederation Cup.
“Let’s thank the players for taking the team into the final. Let’s thank the supporters for coming today – the weather was not the best, and one must be grateful. It was a tough match. The bigger picture is that we went into the final; could we have done it in a better or cleaner way? Yes, but subconsciously, you could see the scoreline that we had, the dynamics behind this match were affecting our team, but we controlled the match well, especially in the second half when we highlighted a few things at the break.
“You could see this team was playing without fear, throwing everything at us. I’m just proud that the team achieved the bigger goal. At the beginning of the competition, if you were to say Pirates were going to be in the final, one would have been grateful. Let’s take the bigger picture and work on the small elements that one picked up preparing for Nigeria, which is going to be very tough,” Ncikazi said in a post-match press conference.
The Buccaneers have a few days to prepare for Friday’s encounter. Ncikazi expressed gratitude to the Pirates fans who weathered the cold weather to support his team and rally behind it throughout the 90 minutes. This is Bucs’ second Caf Confederation Cup final since 2015, and this time around, they will hope to bring it home. The final will be played at Nigeria’s Godswill Akpabio International Stadium on Friday, 20 May 2022.
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