It appears Orlando Pirates is determined to return to its glory days and take back its spot as the ultimate soccer team to beat in South Africa. This comes as they have been destroying any team standing in their way of winning. The Buccaneers currently boast standing at the top of their group’s CAF Champions League log.
Orlando Pirates fans have rightfully discarded the use of the word ‘humility’ from their vocabulary as their team has taken down arguably the best team on the African continent in Egypt’s Al Ahly this past weekend. The Soweto Giants have thus become one of eight teams that will be part of the highly anticipated CAF Champions League quarterfinals, taking them one step closer to securing the ultimate prize.
The game was characterised by plenty of action and controversy and ended with the South African side digging out a 2-1 over the tournament’s defending champions. The team’s youngster and golden boy Relebogile Mofokeng did what he does best and provided the team with a 1-0 lead, and had Tshegofatsho Mabasa finish the job with a well-executed finish late in the game to secure a victory that placed them at the top of group C.
There has since been some chatter about a controversial goal that was scrapped which has had supporters split on whether it should have been considered off-side or not. This goal would have been the Egyptian side’s equaliser during added time. This instance has had Al Ahly calling for the introduction of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to the continent’s biggest football tournament.
“Why does CAF not use video technology in the group stage? The African Champions League is the biggest tournament on the competitive level on the continent?” coach Marcel Koller told reporters.
Despite their impressive performance the team’s coach and fan favourite Jose Riveiro has expressed that the team still has a way to go as they look on to take on an even bigger test in the quarterfinals than they did in the group stages.
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