Menzi Magubane
Orlando Pirates have qualified for the CAF Confederations Cup final despite losing 1-0 to Al-Ahli on Sunday night.
The Buccaneers will be contesting the final of this competition for only the second time in their history.
Holding a 2-0 advantage going into Sunday proved to be the deciding factor as Pirates were perhaps fortunate not to lose by a bigger margin.
The Libyans were all over Bucs in this match and they could have had more than two goals if not for the good saves of goalkeeper Siyabonga Mpontshane.
The Bucs are now in their first final since 2015, when they lost it to Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia in the same competition.
Last Sunday the Bucs defeated Tripoli 2-0 in Libya in the first leg of the competition. The second leg needed the Bucs to at least draw or, if they lost, to go down less than two goals.
Mandla Ncikazi is the second coach to lead the Buccaneers to the competition’s final. The first was Roger De Sa in 2015 and Ncikazi would look to be better than the former Bidvest Wits mentor.
Ncikazi knows that his stay in Soweto is not safe and winning this cup in Nigeria on Friday would leave him in the Bucs’ history books.
Pirates are not in good form in the DStv Premiership and they are likely to miss out the CAF competitions next season if they lose in the final.
Currently they are in fifth place but if they win the Confederations Cup they will automatically qualify for the next season’s competition.
The fate of Ncikazi will be decided when Pirates save their season with a win in Nigeria against RSB Berkane. .
Image source: @GoalSouthAfrica
