Orlando Pirates face a hostile reception and an uphill battle against Asec Mimosa in
Soccer: Lungile Madywabe
‘THERE will be hell in Ivory Coast,” said Asec Mimosa coach Zare Mamadou after his team drew 2-2 with Orlando Pirates in the first leg of the Champions Cup at the FNB stadium two weeks ago.
With these words in mind Ronald Mkhandawire will not only seek to be the first coach from South Africa to win this continental cup, but also to try and mentally prepare a team undergoing problems following the sacking of coach Joe Frickleton.
But soft-spoken Mkhandawire seems to know what the task involves: “I have been in a similar situation before and handled it and I hope I do the same here.” He refused to be drawn into the Frickleton debacle , saying, “It is not my department.”
Pirates manager Lawrence Ngubane pointed out that despite the abundance of youngsters in the team Frickleton had failed to take advantage of the situation and use them. “Look at how many youngsters we have on the field today, they have been with us for the whole year,” said Ngubane. This was after the Buccanners had replaced eight of their regulars on their way to beating Cosmos 5-1 in a friendly on Tuesday night.
Pirates will go to the Ivory Coast without Marks Maponyane and Innocent Buthelezi. Maponyane is out because of a nagging knee injury while Buthelezi is out following the red card he received in the first leg.
John Moeti remains a doubtful starter after he went out limping in the first leg. Should Moeti be ruled out, either Fish, Vincent Sokhela or Dumisane Ngobe will play in the middle. A role both Sokhela and Ngobe are familiar with. Mkhandawire argues that Fish will be considered because of his ball-winning abilities and his willingness to surge forward.
If Fish is used in the middle then it means that Bernard “Shoes” Moshoe will be used as a centre back and Mkhandawire was adamant that “this time around there will be no gift goals”.
It is not clear whether Mkhandawire will elect to use big forward Mark Batchelor to exploit high balls into the penalty area. Asec looked deficient in this area during the first leg but Mkhandawire also has to remember that Bucs would be comfortably in the lead now had Batchelor not missed easy chances in
The 17-man Bucs team knows that the odds are against them and a win for them will, as executive director Irvin Khoza said, turn them into “living monuments”.
The players looked sharp and happy in training and were not keen to be drawn into the management dispute. “I do not think the sacking has affected us in any way,” said Brendan Silent .