Orlando Pirates Coach Mandla Ncikazi Explains CAF Confederations Cup Final Approach Against RS Berkane

• Orlando Pirates will not tinker much with what has worked for them in the CAF Confederations Cup campaign this season
• The Buccaneers will take on Morocco's RS Berkane at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo in Nigeria on Friday night
• Co-caoch Mandla Ncikazi said that the team's approach was to tweak strategy and tactics as little as possible taking on the unknown quantity that is the Orange Men

Orlando Pirates co-coach Mandla Ncikazi says the team will not change much to their approach against RS Berkane in the CAF Confederations Cup final on Friday.

The much-anticipated encounter will take place at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo in Nigeria. The Buccaneers defeated Libya's Al Ahly Tripoli 2-1 on aggregate to get there, while the Orange Men saw off the Democratic Republic of the Congo's TP Mazembe 4-2 over two legs.

However, Ncikazi was not particularly impressed following Pirates' laboured 1-0 loss at home last Sunday at the Orlando Stadium. The home team was off colour in front of supporters who were expecting their side to convincingly build on the impressive 2-0 victory away the previous weekend.

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He said to the Citizen:

“Let’s thank the players for taking the team into the final. Let’s thank our supporters for coming today. The weather was not the best but I still saw their presence. It was a tough match. (But) The bigger picture is that we made it to the final.

"Could we have done it in a better, cleaner way? Yes. But subconsciously you could see that the scoreline that we had, and the dynamics in this match were affecting our team. We had the opportunities. But we did not take them. And in any game if you don’t score you give confidence to the opponent. They got a chance towards the end of the game and they scored."

He added:

“Let’s look at the bigger picture and work on the small elements that one picked us as we prepare for Nigeria.”

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Meanwhile, Sport24 reported that Pirates will face a gruelling schedule in order to get to the venue of their match. The Buccaneers will embark on a six-hour journey from Johannesburg’s OR Tambo International Airport to Nigeria’s capital Lagos on Wednesday and then connect on an hour-long flight to their final destination in the town of Uyo.

Orlando Pirates coach Mandla Ncikazi dodges heavy CAF punishment after controversial comments

Orlando Pirates co-coach Mandla Ncikazi has escaped serious punishment by CAF following comments he made last month after a Confederations Cup defeat to Simba SC.

As reported, the Buccaneers lost the first leg of their quarterfinal tie 1-0 against Tanzanian team Simba SC in Dar es Salaam.

From refereeing decisions in the game to alleged shenanigans off it, Pirates felt that they were mistreated deliberately in East Africa.