D-DAY has finally arrived for Orlando Pirates in their last hurdle to win the Caf Confederation Cup.
The Buccaneers will be hoping to beat Tunisian giants, Etoile du Sahel, who scored a very crucial away goal in the first leg at Orlando Stadium last week.
Kick-off for today’s match (final) is at 4pm at the Stade Olympique de Sousse Stadium.
The fact that only 12 000 tickets have been made available for the 28 000 capacity venue could work in Pirates’ favour.
Bucs supporters will he hoping for a repeat of the 1995 CAF Champions League glory where Pirates defeated Asec Mimosas in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
Pirates went into the second leg with no hope having drawn 2-2 in the first leg in Joburg. Jerry Sikhosana scored the winner to silence the home crowd.
The Buccaneers will now be able to focus on the job at hand, considering that the unrest in Tunisia, due to a bomb blast which killed 12 people on Tuesday, is now under control.
But the Soweto Giants will need to bring their A-game and they must at least score a goal to stand a chance. They must also avoid conceding at all costs.
If the match ends on a goalless note, this means the Buccaneers’ dream of becoming the only South African club to win the Champions League, Super Cup and Confederation Cup will be shattered.
The fact that Buccaneers have scored the most goals (29) in the tournament and are strong on the road, having found the back of the net in each game they played, is a positive sign.
Pirates coach, Eric Tinkler, is optimistic that his charges will breach the Red Devils’ solid defence to make the country proud.
Tinkler told SunSport: “We want to make the Southern Africa region and the country proud.
“Our objective is to get the results and come back with the trophy.
“We know what we are up against and we worked on how to break them down.
“We scored 10 goals on the road and we need to do that again.
“We created seven scoring chances in the first leg and I was disappointed that only two were on target.
“We need to create space in the final third to ensure we convert.
“We also need to defend the set piece because that’s where we let ourselves down.”
The Buccaneers will pin their hopes on the scoring prowess of lanky striker Thamsanqa Gabuza, who also found the back of the net with a beautiful goal in the first leg.
