Jwaneng Galaxy FC head coach Morena Ramoreboli says the pressure is on a big team like Orlando Pirates ahead of their CAF Champions League second preliminary round clash.
Galaxy will host Pirates in the first-leg in Botswana on Saturday, in a fixture that will have a eyes on as they are facing each other for the second successive season.
Galaxy shocked Pirates last season, eliminating them via penalties after winning the first leg at home by 1-0 before losing the second leg 1-0 Orlando Stadium to force penalties.
iDiski Times spoke with Galaxy coach Ramoreboli, who has a history of upsetting the Buccaneers, and he says his side are ready for Pirates, who are under more pressure because they are the bigger team
“Preparations are going well and the team is highly motivated to play against a big team like Orlando Pirates,” Ramoreboli told iDiski Times.
“I believe we’re facing the same problem as them [Pirates] with players returning from the national team today [Thursday] – Sibisi, Ndah, Mofokeng, and Mbatha were with the national team, we’re also in that situation.
“But we are confident enough that we can do well in this game, they are more under pressure because they are a big team and they are supposed to beat a small team. Also we beat them the last time.
“Are we ready to compete? Yes. Are we ready for the group stages? Yes. Are scared of Pirates? No.”
Ramoreboli, though, insisted that a lot has changed in comparison to last season, as he’s expecting a different setup by Jose Riveiro.
“A lot has changed from the Pirates we played against, Ndlondlo was playing, Deon Hotto didn’t play as a left-back, they have a new center-back pairing of Ndah and Sesane, they have a very influential Mofokeng, Mabasa was not there, so a lot has changed,” he added.
“I just hope this time we have more supporters than them, when they last came here, at half-time almost the whole stadium was supporting them. We scored then people started believing that we could win the game.”
Story by Sinethemba Makonco (@Makonco_M).
