Jwaneng Galaxy head coach Morena Ramoreboli says they can be proud that they made the biggest team on the continent make defensive tactical changes in their CAF Champions League clash on Saturday afternoon.
Pirates walked away from the National Stadium in Gaborone with a 2-0 win, two away goals from Tshegofatso Mabasa and Deon Hotto respectively.
But Ramoreboli feels they can keep their head up high and wasn’t downhearted, considering they’ve earned results against Simba SC and Wydad Athletic Club, and Pirates themselves over the last couple of seasons.
“No, no, no [I’m not disappointed at the result], we are playing Orlando Pirates, I think, if I’m not wrong, it’s the first time to win the Champions League in the Southern region, this is the oldest team in the continent, the biggest team in the continent,” he said.
“If you play a big team like Orlando Pirates, and their substitutions had to be defenders, then you must know there’s something you’re doing [right] because they had to defend for us… for the better part of the second half.
“So for me, I will say, as much as I’m disappointed we didn’t win, I’m very proud of the players because… I always say we playing XI vs XI and we made two mistakes, which cost us the result.”
Ramoreboli reiterated they performed to the best of their abilities, and understand that 2-0 is not an unassailable lead for the Soweto giants to take back home to eSgodini next week.
“We created so many chances, I still believe, had we been in better positions, we would have scored. Let’s be honest, last season we were in the same position, celebrating the 1-0 victory against Orlando Pirates,” he added.
“Today we sitting needing to find strength from losing 2-0 against Pirates at home. We need to find reasons which will take us into the second leg and say how are we gonna perform in the second leg. We have 90 minutes to play, the coach said it’s the first half, and I believe it was the first half, the second half can go either way.
“For those who understand the game, leading 2-0 is not a safe lead. And I always want to say, we have the ability and capability to come back, we will come back.”
