JOHANNESBURG — Orlando Pirates captain Lucky Lekgwathi says his team cannot afford to undermine their Caf Champions League opponents Djabal Club, whom they meet at Orlando Stadium today.
Report by Kick Off
Pirates took top spot on the Premiership log from rivals Kaizer Chiefs on Wednesday, after beating Supersport United 1-0, and will want to continue on winning ways against the Comoros club.
However, the bitter memories of being booted out of the tournament by Angolan club Recreativo do Libolo last season are still fresh in fans’ minds and Lekgwathi said winning will not be enough: he wants his team to score goals.
“I believe the result against SuperSport has done well to give us a morale boost ahead of the game against Djabal on Saturday (today),” he told KickOff.com. “We have finished with SuperSport and now it’s the chance to focus on the Caf game.
“We learnt our lesson with what happened in the last two years, when we participated in the tournament and were beaten by teams from both Botswana and Angola. It’s a must to win at home and score a number of goals and make our job easy for the return match.”
The Bucs skipper says the experience in the side will be a positive: “We have guys like Collins Mbesuma, ‘Tico’ (Okonkwo), who have won the Champions League trophy before and their experience will count a lot for us in the competition this year.
“There are also those guys like Benni McCarthy and those that played in the recent Afcon. I think their experience will also help us a lot in this tournament.”
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Despite being beaten by Orlando Pirates on Wednesday, SuperSport United left the country for their Caf Confederation Cup assignment against CS Don Bosco in high spirits.
United were beaten 1-0 at Orlando Stadium in Soweto midweek in their first match of the year, but the team is ready to put that behind them and do the country proud in DR Congo tomorrow.
Speaking to KickOff.com from OR Tambo Airport in Johannesburg, United skipper Thabo September said they were well prepared for their Caf assignment, even though they do not know much about Don Bosco.
“The game against Pirates is now behind us,” September said. “It’s all in the past, but the good thing about that game is that we have managed to rectify some of our mistakes and prepare very well for the trip to DR Congo.
“The spirit in the camp is good. We are well prepared for this DRC trip even if we don’t know much about our opponents and haven’t seen any video clips. We are going to do our best to make the country proud.”
SuperSport are expected to return on Monday to prepare for their League match against AmaZulu in Durban next Wednesday.
