Former Orlando Pirates winger Tlou Segolela has reflected on the time they were punished by retired Al Ahly legend Mohamed Aboutreika in the 2013 CAF Champions League final.
The Egyptian side won the two-legged tie 3-1 on aggregate after the first leg ended 1-1 at Orlando Stadium with the midfield maestro netting a stunner from outside the box on their way to securing the title.
‘Sox’ spoke to iDiski Times senior writer Matshelane Mamabolo in edition 205 of the newspaper where he also noted how inexperience was a factor for Pirates.
“We had all the chances to win, but inexperience killed us,” Segolela told iDiski Times.
“We were the first group to participate in the Champions League after a long time, and Ahly were far ahead of us. Interestingly, we found it easier to play the away matches than at home because the pressure of the supporters on the players they did not believe in was too much and affected the team. I remember we held a meeting following the match against Leopards [1-0 defeat in the Group stage] in the DRC and agreed that we are going to go all the way.
“We played the first leg at home, and when we equalised late through Thabo’s [Matlaba] goal, we will go at them in the second leg. We had three or four chances to win that match, but we did not take them, and against a team as experienced and with the know-how of Ahly, you often pay for those.
“They had [Mohamed] Aboutreika, who knew how to score and win these high-level matches, and he punished us.”
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