Former Orlando Pirates winger Daine Klate believes that Orlando Pirates have “the capabilities and the players to deal with the pressures of a Cup final” and that will push them to overpower Bloemfontein Celtic in Saturday’s MTN8 final at Moses Mabhida Stadium.
Pirates go into Saturday’s match having last won a piece of silverware in 2014 when they claimed the Nedbank Cup.
Their opponents have also gone for a long period without making additions to their trophy cabinet which last accommodated a major Cup in 2012 when they won the Telkom Knockout.
But Klate, who won the 2010 and 2011 MTN8 with Pirates, feels that the Buccaneers are favourites to prevail as winners on Saturday.
After impressively knocking out their Soweto rivals Kaizer Chiefs on a 5-0 aggregate scoreline in the semi-final, Klate takes Pirates as short favourites.
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But the ex-Buccaneers star is not totally discounting Celtic whom he feels will not be pushovers.
“I would probably go for Pirates but I think Bloemfontein Celtic have done really well,” said Klate as per Sowetan Live.
“In fact, both teams have done well to get to the final. Celtic got through Mamelodi Sundowns in the quarterfinals to get to the semifinals where they beat SuperSport United, the reigning champions.
“Pirates beat Kaizer Chiefs to get to the final so I think both are deservedly in the final. It’s a difficult one to call but I would like for Pirates to win it. I don’t think Pirates have won a trophy since I left the team.
“I think they have got the capabilities and the players to deal with the pressures of a cup final. They have a lot of experience in the team again. The same with Celtic; they just came from the Nedbank Cup final which they narrowly lost against Sundowns.
“So I think it’s a very even final and both teams can win. But I would like for Pirates to triumph.”
Saturday’s showdown will be Celtic’s second final in three months after losing out on the Nedbank Cup to Mamelodi Sundowns in September.
But the Free State side got their revenge a month later when they eliminated Downs from the MTN8 at the quarter-final stage.
They then went on to knock out SuperSport United in the last four of this tournament.
The last time Celtic and Pirates met was early November when the Bucs edged Siwelele 1-0 away at Dr Petrus Molemela Stadium.
