Thabo Matlaba has cautioned his former club, Orlando Pirates, against underestimating Egyptian giants Al Ahly ahead of their CAF Champions League clash at Orlando Stadium on Saturday.
Image: Ayanda Ndamane /Independent Newspapers
Thabo Matlaba has cautioned his former club, Orlando Pirates against underestimating Egyptian giants Al Ahly ahead of their CAF Champions League clash at Orlando Stadium on Saturday.
The Soweto giants have been in impressive form this season, suffering just one defeat in their eight league outings and are currently neck-and-neck with defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns with both teams on 21 points in the league.
They also showcased their resilience with a hard-fought 2-1 away victory in their first match of the group stages against CR Belouizdad last month.
However, despite their impressive form, Matlaba has cautioned the Buccaneers that the upcoming match against the "Red Devils" will be extremely difficult.
Matlaba was part of the Pirates side in 2013 under then-coach Roger De Sa, which missed out on continental glory after suffering a 3-1 aggregate loss in the final.
Al Ahly are the defending champions and have claimed the title a record 12 times and are aiming to extend their dominance in the competition.
“It’s going to be a very tough match, they must not take it lightly and and think it’s going to be an easy game, so they must not take it for granted.
“Because in the league they are doing great and they won away (against CR Belouizdad) just recently. Al Ahly have experience, they know how to score and they know how defend,”Matlaba said in interview with SuperSport.
The Royal AM player also expressed his belief that the Sea Robbers can go far in the competition, stating he was impressed with how the team has performed so far this season.
“To be honest they will go far, I’m impressed with Relebohile Mofokeng, I’m impressed with Mohau Nkota. So I’m very impressed with that team they are scoring goals and that is the most important thing.
"In Champions League you must score goals because if you don’t score goals you won’t win and also their defence is very solid, so I think they will do well,”
IOL Sport
