Fat lady ain't sung yet, says Bucs leader

30 September 2015 - 02:08 By Marc Strydom

Stand-in captain Rooi Mahamutsa told Orlando Pirates players to stop celebrating because the job was far from over following their 1-0 CAF Confederation Cup first-leg victory against Al Ahly at Orlando Stadium on Saturday. Pirates' players were delighted at their victory against the team they lost to 3-1 on aggregate in the 2013 CAF Champions League final.They were called into a huddle in the centre of the field and reminded in no uncertain terms that this was only halftime of the tie, and revenge was still incomplete."At the end of the game the guys were so happy."And I told them that they mustn't be too happy because we still have to go and play in Egypt," Mahamutsa said."For us to play a game of two legs, we need to go there in the away leg with full focus."We know the Egyptian giants are very strong in their homeland, and it's going to be a very difficult game for us."But if we can keep our focus I think we can come up with a win."Zamalek suffered a shock 5-1 defeat away to Etoile du Sahel in Tunisia in the first leg of the weekend's other semifinal.That result might potentially have left the path open for the winners between Pirates and Al Ahly to go all the way in the competition."I said to the guys [before the first leg]: "This is a fantastic opportunity we have, to reach the Confed Cup final'," said Pirates coach Eric Tinkler. "It doesn't come round very often. It's about leaving a legacy."And also that I had a lot of faith in the guys, and they needed to go out and roll up their sleeves and work hard. And that's what they did."Whether the single-goal advantage earned as a result of that effort will be enough only the 90 minutes that remain in Sunday's second leg at Suez Stadium will tell...

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