Playing for Orlando Pirates a dream come true, says Oswin Appollis

Orlando Pirates' new signing Oswin Appollis is cherishing being part of the Buccaneers, saying wearing the Soweto giants' famous black and white jersey means a lot to him.

Appollis joined Pirates from Polokwane City a week ago. The Bafana Bafana star has already shown flashes of brilliance in Bucs' two friendlies in their camp in Spain — a 2-0 defeat against English third-tier side Bolton Wanderers on Friday and 1-1 draw against Cypriot champions Pafos on Sunday, both at Marbella Football Centre.

“Yes, it is a dream come true to play for Pirates. Playing for this great club is an honour. I always watched [Pirates] on TV — now wearing this jersey means a lot to me,” Appollis told sportscaster Thomas Mlambo in Spain on Monday.

The 23-year-old Appollis produced a stunning cross-field pass to set up a goal from Relebohile Mofokeng in Sunday's draw against Pafos.

Appollis revealed fullback Deano van Rooyen is one of the teammates helping him settle in at the Soweto giants.

“He has told me to always work hard and be positive. It's been great having him around but all the other players have helped me a lot, telling me I don't need to be shy and I can ask them anything.”

Mofokeng was excited at finding the back of the net. “I feel very happy but there's more to improve on,” the attacker said.

Defender Tapelo Xoki lauded his teammates' display against Pafos, and said they hope to register a first win in Marbella against Palmas, who were relegated from the Spanish La Liga last season, on Thursday (7pm SA time).

“The performance was top. The guys played very well. The combinations were good and I think we improved from the previous game,” he said.

“Our focus is on Las Palmas now, hopefully we get more improvements. Hopefully we also start winning now.”

Pirates announced the signing of right-footed utility player Kamogelo Sebelebele from TS Galaxy on Monday, a day after selling another wide player in left-footed Mohau Nkota to Saudi side Al-Ettifaq.

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