Ahead of their CAF Champions League campaign in Bloemfontein on Saturday afternoon, Orlando Pirates coach Abdeslam Ouaddou has urged his side to put their MTN8 triumph aside.
Pirates begin their Champions League preliminary rounds against a tricky assignment, where they will face Lioli from Lesotho at Free State Stadium. The game will get underway at 3pm.
The Buccaneers go into the encounter fresh from the MTN8, where they walloped Stellenbosch FC 3-0 at the Mbombela Stadium last weekend.
Cup victory is history
Ahead of the game against the Lesotho champions, Ouaddou said his side should forget about their MTN8 success and focus on the task ahead of them.
“Of course, it’s an important game and we take it very seriously. We are prepared for them, my players are ready,” Ouaddou said during a press conference in Bloemfontein on Friday.
“It’s a team that we have information [about], we have studied. We know their weaknesses and their strengths, and we are ready to play the game. We are going to play the game with a lot of ambition.
“Our season started a while ago now, and I think I must congratulate my boys for the fourth title they won. We did it four times in a row and it’s historical, but now we must turn the page. The strength of a big club, the strength of a champion, lies in focusing on the next game.”
Pirates had an impressive run last time out in the Champions League, when they made it all the way to the semifinals under coach Jose Riveiro.
Lesotho side present a hurdle
They will want to repeat that feat and probably go all the way this time around, but standing in their way first up this season is a relatively unknown quantity in continental football circles in the form of the men from the Mountain Kingdom.
Lioli pose a potential banana peel for the 1995 champions at a stage of the competition that has occasionally delivered some upsets.
Geographically, the two sides are not based too far from each other, but will be crossing paths for only the first time in their history.
