Orlando Pirates and Simba have announced their starting line-ups ahead of their second leg CAF Confederation Cup quarter-final at the Orlando Stadium on Sunday.
Pirates suffered a slender 1-0 defeat at the Benjamin Mkapa last week but the headlines were dominated by the comments made in the media between coach Mandla Ncikazi and Simba CEO Barbara Gonzales – which proved to be a back and forth of allegations against each other.
With Pirates needing goals to turn the tie around, the return of Vincent Pule has been resisted again, with the technical team deciding he’s not ready for a match of this intensity after a long injuy layoff.
“Pule is making progress, but I think it will be premature to play him in such a high tempo game while we will really want to win having our best players,” he said in the pre-match press conference.
“I don’t think he is in a position when he hasn’t played not even a single full training match. He is in that position where we must make a tough choice but maybe we chose to go for safety.”
Meanwhile Simba will be without former Pirates playmaker Bernard Morission who was denied a visa to enter South Africa for previous misdemeanours during his time in the country.
Orlando Pirates XI: Ofori; Shandu, Ndah, Nyauza, Maela; Lorch, Mabaso, Makaringe, Hotto, Peprah, Dzvukamanja.
Simba XI: Manula; Kapombe, Pascal, Onyango, Husseini, Kanoute, Baka, Mkude, Sakho, Mwenda, Magalu.
