Snl24 | ‘Pirates Are At Afcon While Rivals Playing Friendlies’
STELLENBOCH, SOUTH AFRICA – JANAURY 08: Zakhele Lepasa and Aubrey Modiba during the South Africa national mens soccer team media open day at Lentelus Sportsground on January 08, 2023 in Stellenbosch, South Africa. (Photo by Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images)
Orlando Pirates also have a number of players in the Bafana Bafana squad at the Africa Cup of Nations such as Nkosinathi Sibisi, Thabang Monare, Zakhele Lepasa and Evidence Makgopa.
Deon Hotto represents Namibia and goalkeeper Richard Ofori participated for Ghana at Afcon.
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Both South Africa and Namibia progressed out of the same group ahead of African giants Tunisia, and former Pirates striker Jackie “Styles” Ledwaba talks to Soccer Laduma about how their progress will help the Buccaneers in the second round of the PSL season from the 13th of February.
“It’s always good to have your team being represented in the national team. Look, Pirates have four Bafana Bafana players and one in the Ghana squad and another with Namibia. That’s great going forward. When the other teams were playing friendly games, these players were playing tough games with tough opponents and that’s what you need,” Ledwaba told the Siya crew.
“They will use that experience to help the team when they come back. Look at Hotto. He even won Man of the Match in the Namibia game against Mali. That’s what you need from your players and that will help the squad as they compete for the league title back home,” Ledwaba observed.
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Ledwada added that with Makgopa playing almost every game so far at the tournament it is helping improve his confidence too.
“You can see how Evidence (Makgopa) has been performing. Even though he hasn’t scored a goal yet but you can see that his confidence is up. That is what he needed and he will use that to his advantage when he comes back to Pirates. He has helped the team qualify for the last 16 and the longer they stay in the tournament the more confident he becomes and Pirates will benefit from that.
“And Lepasa is also given the chance and so is Monare. That’s great for the team’s confidence in the second half of the season. The national team call-up is always a morale booster and this Afcon tournament is helping Pirates a lot,” Ledwaba told Soccer Laduma.
The Buccaneers will pick up their domestic season with a home game against Chippa United at Orlando Stadium and will hope that a victory will inspire them to set the tone for the rest of the campaign.
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