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| Roger De SA and Eric Tinkler |
In reality the 1-1 draw, earned by Thabo Matlaba's equaliser in the fourth minute of injury time, leaves the odds stacked against Bucs for the second leg in Cairo on Sunday. But even al-Ahly admitted that Pirates' never-say-die attitude means you cannot take victory over the South African club for granted.
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"Over the 90 minutes I couldn't ask for more," De Sa said of his team's first-leg performance. "We kept on trying, kept our patience, didn't just play long balls and kick and pray.
"We controlled the game. We showed character and kept fighting to the last minute.
"We're in with a fighting chance. I know it's going to be very difficult - there's no doubt about it. But we'll certainly have a go, and the team I've got certainly have the character to try and turn it around."
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The Buccaneers beat al-Ahly 3-0 away in the group stages, though they face an entirely different prospect in the second leg. The first match was in front of an empty stadium in the Red Sea resort of El Gouna, 430km from the politically volatile capital, where Bucs will play in front of al-Ahly's notorious Ultras.
"The game in Cairo will be different," said al-Ahly coach Mohamed Youssef. "The last game was played in our fasting month of Ramadan, and we played at 2.30pm in 45°C heat. And it was not our home ground."
Midfielder Daine Klate said whatever Bucs experience in Cairo, it cannot be worse than their tempestuous match against TP Mazembe in Lubumbashi in the knockout stages.
"We came through that, and we can always go back and look at that reference. They can take us wherever they want, a good field, a bad field, keep on changing the venue, the game from Saturday to Sunday - whatever blows their hair back. We just have to be ready for whatever," he said.
Also giving Bucs some hope is the fact that they have dominated al-Ahly in three matches, even if they only managed to win one of those. De Sa said Bucs will attack again in Cairo.
"To be honest we don't really have a defensive team. We don't really know how to play all at the back - we play the way we play.
"So the way we've got to go to Cairo is to play. We've done it before. The mountain keeps getting higher and higher. But I really don't know what the limit is of this lot [Pirates] - they keep going. So let's see how far we can go."
Al-Ahly's captain, defender Wael Gomaa, said Pirates' late goal served as motivation for the second leg, though his answer also gave a hint to the wariness that Bucs are viewed with by the Egyptians now.
"I think the last goal in the last minute has given al-Ahly more courage to take the game in Cairo more seriously," Gomaa said.
"Especially because Pirates, when they play out of their ground, play better than at home."
Source : sportlive.co.za
Tags : psl,pirates, al-ahly, caf championship
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