Ndoro could miss Pirates' showdown against Wits if Zimbabwe reach Afcon later stages

Orlando Pirates have been sending plenty of good luck messages to the club’s Zimbabwe forward Tendai Ndoro but they must be privately hoping he is knocked out in the first round at the 2017 African Nations Cup in Gabon.

That’s because Pirates will be resuming their league campaign five days earlier than originally planned in February and will be desperate to have their star striker – and key source of goals this season – in the side for what is one of their most important games of the season.

The Buccaneers will travel to Ellis Park on February 3 to take on joint-Absa Premiership leaders BidVest Wits in their opening game of 2017.

They currently trail Wits by seven points and if that were to balloon out to 10‚ it seems almost inconceivable that Augusto Palacios’ side could mount a serious title challenge this season.

If Zimbabwe exit the Nations Cup after the pool phase then Ndoro could be back in Johannesburg around January 25.

But their spirited showing in a 2-2 draw against Algeria‚ where they perhaps should have taken all three points as‚ ironically‚ Wits striker Cuthbert Malajila missed a golden chance to make it 3-1 to the Warriors moments before Algeria equalised‚ suggests they could make it out of the pool.

That still looks a long-shot‚ but if they do they will face a quarterfinal on January 28‚ with Ndoro unlikely to be back in the country less than two days after that.

And if they are shock semifinalists then he will definitely sit out that fixture and potentially also their match on February 8 away at Platinum Stars.

Ndoro has scored 11 out of Pirates’ 15 league goals this season to head the Absa Premiership Golden Boot race.

But that has not been enough to force his way into the Zimbabwe side‚ with Knowledge Musona‚ Nyasha Mushekwi and Khama Billiat all starting ahead of him against Algeria‚ and Matthew Rusike and Malajila coming off the bench.

- TMG Digital