"Mission Not Impossible for Orlando Pirates in CAF Confederations Cup": Former Al Ahly Assistant Coach Johnson

• Former Al Ahly assistant coach Cavin Johnson believes that Orlando Pirates will have to sweat to get through the quarterfinals of the CAF Confederations Cup
• The Buccaneers were drawn against Tanzanian champions Simba SC in the last eight of the continent's secondary club football tournament
• Johnson said that Pirates must expect the very worst of African football's gamesmanship when away in East Africa

South African football coach Cavin Johnson is of the opinion that Orlando Pirates will find it difficult but not impossible to get past the quarterfinals of the CAF Confederations Cup.

The Buccaneers will face Tanzanian league champions Simba SC in the last eight of African football's secondary club tournament. Johnson, a former assistant coach at Al Ahly, believes they will get past the East Africans, but after a very hard fight.

He also drew on his experiences of African football's propensity for gamesmanship as a challenge that Pirates will have no choice but to overcome.

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He told KickOff:

"That's not so bad. Except that Simba are a very well-travelled team and are a very, very big in Tanzania. Facing Simba at home it's very difficult, I don't know how many thousands of people they will put in the stadium. But the last time I was there with Ahly, they had 30 000 to 40 000 people in the stadium."

So it will be difficult in Tanzania for Pirates, but not impossible. At home, you pray that Pirates supporters come out and they support the team, they don't support the individual and don't go against the coaches and things like that.

"I don't know how experienced Fadlu and Mandla are in facing Simba. But be prepared that all of a sudden on any given morning, there will be a lot of traffic and you will be two hours late. Be prepared to arrive at a hotel late at night and there will be a lot of security checks at the hotel.

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"So you've got to be prepared for the worst that can happen away from the field. You go into the game there's only one security car, there's only one escort, but CAF says you must have four escorts. Now that everything is open in South Africa it will make it better for Pirates because it's two legs, home and away."

CAF Confederations Cup draw: Orlando Pirates to take on Tanzania's Simba SC in quarterfinals

Orlando Pirates can start preparing for the quarterfinals of the CAF Confederations Cup after finding out who their opponents will be.

As reported on Sports Brief, the Buccaneers were drawn against defending Tanzanian league champions Simba SC.

The draw was conducted at CAF's headquarters in Cairo.