Confed Cup glory beckons: Ncikazi after Pirates finish top of Group B

Orlando Pirates will be targeting Caf Confederation Cup glory after advancing to the quarterfinals at the weekend, says co-coach Mandla Ncikazi.

The Sea Robbers finished top of Group B on 13 points after they added to four wins and a defeat by wrapping up the round-robin stage with a goalless draw against Libyan side Al Ittihad at Orlando Stadium on Sunday.

Ncikazi said Pirates advancing to the knockout rounds of a Caf competition should not be celebrated as these are the heights the club is expected to reach.

“The history of Pirates is that they have always done well in Caf competitions. When Roger De Sa was here they played in the [2013 Champions League] final and Eric Tinkler also played in the [2015 Confederation Cup] final,” Bucs' coach said.

“They qualified [for the 2020-21 group stages] the last time under Josef Zinnbauer and they won the title in 1995. So there is no surprise.

“Pirates should be in the stages where they are in at the moment and we will try go further and possibly win it. Pirates have quality. You could see that we are a team that wants to dominate matches and use the ball well.

“We have a pool of players coming back from injuries and other situations and we want to go as far as we can.”

The significance of Pirates finishing as group winners is that they will get to play the second leg of their quarterfinal at home, which can be considered an advantage.

The draw for the quarterfinals will be conducted at the Caf headquarters in Cairo on Tuesday where the four group winners will be seeded and the four group runners-up unseeded.

Pirates will be seeded with other group winners Al Ahli Tripoli, TP Mazembe and RS Berkane. Runners-up Pyramids FC, Al Ittihad, Al Masry and Simba will be in the unseeded pot.

“Let’s see who is next,” Ncikazi said. “We would have loved to choose certain teams but at this stage it is dangerous to choose. Whether a team has finished first or second in any case at this stage of the competition you will find tough opponents.”

Ittihad were full of delaying tactics and happy to sit deep in their own half, knowing that a point was enough for them to go through.

Ittihad’s Tunisian coach Mohamed Kouki was full of praise for Pirates and said Ncikazi and coach Fadlu David’s team, which finished the group stage with the most goals (15) have what it takes to go all the way.

“The most important thing for us in this match was qualification,” said Kouki.

“We have played against the best team in this group. I think the future of this team will be better than now. I said at the beginning of this competition that they are the best team in the group. They can go very far because they have a very good team and good players.”

Teams who have qualified for the Caf Confederation Cup quarterfinals:

Group A

Al Ahli Tripoli (Libya), Pyramids (Egypt)

Group B

Orlando Pirates (SA), Al Ittihad (Libya)

Group C

TP Mazembe (DR Congo), Al Masry (Egypt)

Group D

RS Berkane (Morocco), Simba (Tanzania)