Chronicle Editor
ORLANDO Pirates have been warned against potential dirty tactics, synonymous with African football, by their Caf Confederation Cup quarter-final opponents Simba SC of Tanzania.
The Buccaneers have also been cautioned on former player Bernard Morrison, who is potentially out for vengeance for how his time in South Africa came to an end.
Morrison spent an indifferent two years at Pirates, while failing to score in his first season. Then hitting the net on four occasions in his second year before off-field controversies curtailed his stay.
The 28-year-old is now in his second season with Simba where he has registered three goals in the Caf Confederation Cup this season.
The Buccaneers travel to Dar es Salaam for the first-leg of their Caf Confederation Cup quarter-final first-leg on April 17 before hosting the second-leg at Orlando Stadium the following week.
“The most dangerous player for Simba is Bernard Morrison and luckily Pirates know him,” Tanzanian defender Abdi Banda told KickOff.
Banda is a former Simba player who has also been on the books of Baroka and Highlands Park, but now features for Mtibwa Sugar in the Tanzania top league.
“Morrison is a guy that will be out to prove a point to Pirates considering what happened in the past. I think Morrison had some misunderstandings with Pirates before, so I know he will be out to show them what he can do.
“He has that kind of mentality of always wanting to prove himself to those that doubt him, and he usually gets the job done. The other threat for Simba is Sakho (Pape Ousmane) otherwise they don’t have a good team like they did last season, and it shows in the gap between them and Yanga, who are top of the (log) standings.
When they played Chiefs last season they had a better team,” says Banda, adding that Mbatha will have to be engaged to neutralise Simba’s famous shenanigans.
“When Pirates come to Dar es Salaam, they must expect the worst and know that the battle will be beyond football because Simba is supported by politicians. Simba will have the referee in their pocket because Simba will give the referee money. Simba always uses dirty tactics when they play at home, but they obviously don’t have the kind of quality that Pirates have, so they will budget on winning at home by a wide margin.
“What I know is that Pirates is going to qualify for the semi-finals after the two legs. It would have been a risk if Pirates played in Johannesburg first. Pirates must make use of Senzo (Mazingiza) for the trip to Tanzania because he knows Tanzania very well and used to be at Simba before and is now at Yanga.
“Yanga will be happy to assist Pirates in whatever they need because they are enemies with Simba,” says Banda. – KickOff
Online Reporter