Orlando Pirates midfielder Thalente Mbatha is just a few days away from making a first appearance in the CAF Champions League and there's good reason for him to be excited.
The man who joined the Buccaneers in January on a six months loan deal from SuperSport United secured himself a permanent move and now has an opportunity to play in a competition that will take his game to another level and possibly even open new doors.
READ: Pirates To Learn From Champions League Shocker
The Buccaneers will be playing Madagascan side CNaPS Sport in Mauritius, on a neutral venue, on Sunday as their campaign gets underway in the first round. Pirates were knocked out in the second last season by Jwaneng Galaxy, just before the group stages, but there's determination to go as far as possible, especially with the quality they have in the team.
"This is something to be grateful for. It's not going to be an easy one because Africa is where you meet other great players. I think it's going to help me too much because it's a physical tournament, so it's something that's going to even help us in the league and in terms of aggressiveness," Mbatha said to the Siya crew.
The former SuperSport United midfielder admitted that they have not been able to get a lot of information on their opponents, but they've put in enough work to ensure that there are no surprises in the first round.
READ: Pirates Confirm New Signing
"It's not an easy opponent. That's what they told us. We don't know much about them, but they have a great team and great facilities as they told us that we would be playing on astroturf, so it's a different feeling because we don't have grounds that are astroturf here. We just need to prepare ourselves."
