Orlando Pirates received a psychological boost ahead of next month’s CAF Confederation Cup final clash with Etoile du Sahel when they Orlando Pirates received more nominations for the continental awards than their Tunisian adversaries.
The Buccaneers have four of their players short-listed for the CAF African Player of the Year for players based on the continent as compared to just a single one for the north Africans.
Following their impressive showing in the second tier tournament, in which they scored in every one of their matches and lost just twice en-route to a spot in the final, Pirates had their efforts rewarded by the continent’s football governing body with an unprecedented number of nominations for a local side.
Goalkeeper Filipe Ovono, midfielder Oupa Manyisa along with strikers Kermit Erasmus and Thamsanqa Gabuza were named among the 24 nominees for the secondary player accolade reserved for players who ply their trade in Africa.
Etoile, the team that Pirates have to get the better of over two legs next month, to add the Confederation Cup title to the Champions Cup one they captured 20 years ago, only have Ahmed Akaichi in the contenders.
In the bigger scheme of things, this might not have much of an influence on match day. But psychologically, the Buccaneers will definitely feel somewhat superior to Etoile just because of their higher nominations.
The nominations of Manyisa, Erasmus and Gabuza would have been expected by many given the trio’s fantastic performances that have seen the three of them score 14 goals to lead Pirates to the final.
But Ovono was a surprise, the Equatorial Guinea goalkeeper only beginning to play in the competition during the group stages following the injury to incumbent Brighton Mhlongo.
Yet such was Ovono’s display in the Africa Cup of Nations finals that his country hosted earlier this year that there can be no denying he is worthy of a nomination.
While the four’s nominations add yet another feather to the Bucs cap, the fact that the country has no contender for the bigger Player of the Year award tells the story of what has generally been yet another pathetic year for South African football in general.
Bafana Bafana’s poor showing at the Africa Cup of Nations set the benchmark for a forgettable campaign by South Africa’s clubs in the Champions League with both Kaizer Chiefs and Mamelodi Sundowns failing to reach the group stages and BidVest Wits falling at the initial hurdle in the Confederation Cup.
The Buccaneers, on the other hand, continue to fly the flag high and they are sure to do so when the nominees are whittled down later on.
They play the University of Pretoria on Friday in a Telkom Knockout first round clash and Tuks better brace themselves for some inspired showing by Ovono, Erasmus and Gabuza, although Manyisa is still out injured. - The Star