Academy graduates Mohau Nkota and Siyabonga Dladla have been included in Orlando Pirates‘ senior team for their pre-season tour of Spain.
Pirates have been hard at training going through their paces ahead of Friday evening’s pre-season friendly against English Championship outfit Plymouth Argyle, managed by former Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney.
Nkota, 19, who hails from Kimberly in the Northern Cape, is a right-winger and only joined the Buccaneers reserve side in February 2024, while Dladla is a 23-year-old goalkeeper who was elevated to Pirates’ first team after the departures of Siyabonga Mpontshane and Richard Ofori. He regularly featured in the Gauteng ABC Motsepe League for Pirates’ feeder club, Pele Pele FC.
Speaking to the Bucs media on Friday, assistant coach Mandla Ncikazi expressed delight at how preparations have gone since they touched down in Spain two days ago.
“I’m happy to see everyone coming out – old players, new players,” Ncikazi said.
“We played the full team organization today in preparation for the match. I’m happy that a lot of players are here. We can prepare with everybody so that we just start well.
“We’ve been slow starters and we become a better team towards the end of the season. Differently now, we want to start at the same note where we finished matches. We do that, then there’s something good that is going to come out of our team.”
Jose Riveiro’s charges will head to Seville after this evening’s clash to take on LaLiga outfit Sevilla before concluding their tour with another tough tie against Qatar Stars League side Al Sadd SC on July 19.
