Newly appointed Orlando Pirates coach Rhulani Mokwena knows the huge task his side has ahead of their match against Green Eagles in their home fixture.
Mokwena has challenged his side to fire on all cylinders against the Choma based Green Eagles, who are coming in with a one-nil lead from the first match played at Nkoloma Stadium in Lusaka.
The Bucs coach has promised to overturn the 1-0 deficit that they suffered in Lusaka. Mokwena has revealed that he will still maintain the same 4-4-2 formation despite failing to break down the Green Eagles defense a fortnight.
“We have to win this one, we have to overturn the 1-0 deficit we suffered away in Lusaka. It will be interesting to see what they go with if it will still be the 4-4-2 formation,” revealed Mokwena in an interview with Orlando Pirates website
Mokwena says the technical bench has analyzed the first leg and have rectified the mistakes made in Lusaka during their defeat in the first leg.
“Will they still keep Kaseba upfront with Musonda? Will they still go aggressively with the full-backs? Either way we will be adequately prepared for them. We will analyze the first leg and see where we went wrong and what needs to be done to rectify our mistakes,” said Mokwena.
Green Eagles carry the advantage viaSpencer Sautu goal in the second half and will need to protect their lead. however, Mokwena said that the Champions League means a lot to Orlando Pirates and its fans. He has called upon the Ghost to turn out in numbers at the Orlando Stadium to cheer the team.
“They are coming to Orlando, it’s not an easy place to be and the Ghost will be there in numbers to inspire our boys to pick up their performance and overturn the result. We are very bullish about that, we know what the Champions League means to the Club, to our supporters and the Chairman, and we all know what we need to do in the second leg”, added Mokwena.
He conceded that the technical bench as learned from their performance in Lusaka and noted that their performance in Zambia was not good enough. With a contingent of Zambia players in the squad, the Bucs will be out to make amends at home.
“We carry the responsibility and accept that the performance was not good enough in Zambia. We know that we have to make amends at Orlando, and we will because that is our home. It’s important that when they come here, they feel that they have coma an e in a for disappointment. It won’t be easy for them,” concluded Mokwena.
Orlando Pirates will take on Green Eagles at 21:00Hrs at the Orlando Stadium. The Bucs will need to win by two unanswered goals against the Super League runners up.
After that brilliant effort to break my heart by Crystal Palace. I need Green Eagles to cheer me up. Surely they can manage a scoreless draw / manage to score first then go for the killer or defend like never before.