Orlando Pirates co-coach Mandla Ncikazi has claimed they should have qualified for the Caf Confederation Cup final in a better and cleaner way against Al Ahli Tripoli.
The Soweto giants manoeuvred their way into the final despite going down 1-0 at the iconic Orlando Stadium at the hands of the Libyan giants on Sunday. They progressed courtesy of a 2-1 aggregate win as they had picked up a 2-0 victory in the first leg.
"The bigger picture is that we went into the final; could we have done it in a better or cleaner way? Yes," Ncikazi admitted in his post-match conference, as per FARPost.
"But subconsciously, you could see the scoreline that we had. The dynamics behind this match were affecting our team, but we controlled the match well, especially in the second half when we highlighted a few things at the break.
"Let’s thank the players for taking the team into the final. Let’s thank the supporters for coming today [Sunday] – the weather was not the best, and one must be grateful. It was a tough match."
Next Match
The tactician praised the Libyan side, who scored their only goal against the Sea Robbers in both legs through Ali Abu Arqoub, but warned the final game in Uyo is not going to be easy.
"You could see this team was playing without fear, throwing everything at us. I’m just proud that the team achieved the bigger goal," he added.
"At the beginning of the competition, if you were to say Pirates were going to be in the final, one would have been grateful.
"Let’s take the bigger picture and work on the small elements that one picked up preparing for Nigeria, which is going to be very tough."
Bucs will now face RS Berkane of Morocco in the final that will be held at Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo on May 20.
The Moroccan outfit confirmed their place in the final after emerging 4-2 aggregate winners against TP Mazemebe of the Democratic Republic of Congo in the other semi-final.
Berkane were trailing 1-0 from the first leg before turning the tables in the second leg on their own turf.
