Milford FC head coach Dr Xanti Pupuma is embracing the challenge of facing Betway Premiership champions Orlando Pirates in their first game in the elite league.
According to a tentative fixture circulating in the media, The Stallions will travel to the Amstel Arena in Orlando for their opening match of the 2026/27 term.
The KwaZulu-Natal outfit gained promotion to the top division through the promotion playoffs where they finished ahead of Magesi FC and Cape Town City in a mini league in June.
Pupuma admitted that his side is an underdog however hopes that more than anything his charges are not overwhelmed by the occasion.
“Look, at some point we’ll have to play them, isn’t it?” Pupuma told the media in Polokwane at their pre-season base camp.
“It’s unfortunate but at the same time it’s a challenge that we are embracing slowly especially playing the champions and us being the weakest team in the division if you look at how we came through.
“We are the ones that qualified through the playoffs. Kruger [United] won the league, so they are higher than us and other teams were already in the division. So, by that we become the weakest and we play the champions on the first day away, doesn’t get any better than that. We’ll embrace the challenge we know it won’t be easy for many, many reasons.
“My only wish is that we show up and not get carried away by the occasion and we get an opportunity to play football how we know and the way we normally play, even if it’s for selected periods in the game, if we get an opportunity to have the ball, move it the way we normally move it. Let’s see how it pans out.”
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