The mood in the Orlando Pirates camp is at its highest levels as the countdown to Uyo in Nigeria has begun ahead of the CAF Confederation Cup final on Friday.
Click through the gallery for Pirates’ preparations for the final
The Buccaneers have made history by reaching the final of the continental competition on three occasions, and while the club failed at the last hurdle in the previous two finals as they ended on the losing side, the Soweto giants will aim to finally get it right this time around to make up for their disappointing DStv Premiership campaign under co-coaches Mandla Ncikazi and Fadlu Davids.
Read – Confirmed: Kick-Off Time For Eagerly-Awaited Pirates CAF Final
Bucs are hoping to have the backing of the local fans at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium as the club has one of their own in its current squad in defender Olisa Ndah.
“I urge the Nigerian fans to come and support us, their prodigal son returns to their stadium, Ndah. We’re playing at the Akwa Stadium where he won the league before he joined Pirates, so we hope the Nigerians will get behind us in the stadium and we have that extra 12th man in the stadium, so a neutral venue could become our home ground. So, we're quite happy with the venue,” said Davids, speaking to the media this week.
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As confirmed by CAF, the Pirates and RS Berkane final is scheduled for 21h00 (South African time) kick-off on Friday.
Meanwhile, adding to Pirates’ excitement is the fact that the club has six players named in Bafana Bafana coach Hugo Broos’ preliminary squad for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
The six players are defenders Bandile Shandu and Innocent Maela, midfielders Goodman Mosele, Thabang Monare and Fortune Makaringe, as well as attacker Thembinkosi Lorch.
View 22 players you may have forgotten played for Orlando Pirates:
