Orlando Pirates striker, Tshegofatso Mabasa, is not worried about going up against his former coach, Morena Ramoreboli, when the Buccaneers take on Jwaneng Galaxy in their CAF Champions League second preliminary round clash in Gaborone on Saturday.
Ramoreboli coached Mabasa at Bloemfontein Celtic and at Bafana Bafana (in Cosafa) and has also mentioned his familiarity with other players such as Kabelo Dlamini, Sipho Chaine, and Monnapule Saleng.
Ramoreboli is the same coach, who led the Botswana champions to dump Pirates out of this competition last season and Mabasa feels his knowledge of the Pirates’ players and style will not help him this time around.
“He [Ramoreboli] is a coach I know quite well, and he knows me as a player. But this is a completely different phase, I have grown as a player. There are a lot more tactics involved,” says Mabasa.
[WATCH] ☠️ Orlando Pirates striker Tshegofatso Mabasa on facing his former coach Morena Ramoreboli in tomorrow’s #CAFCL tie against Jwaneng Galaxy.
“I’ve grown as a player, the game won’t be how he expects it. You can study all you want but what happens is up to the player” pic.twitter.com/SsHDu1cYQs
— Ntsako Mkhari (@Ntsako_Mkhari_) September 13, 2024
“The game won’t be the way that he expects it to be. You can study all you want but what happens on the day is entirely up to the players themselves and tactics on the day. So, we are not worried about that (that Ramoleboli knows some of them as Pirates players), we will go out there and give it our all.”
Mabasa has also said that the team is aware of the history between the two sides and that they’ll be looking to change it this weekend.
“A lot of people have been speaking about Jwaneng and what happened, but this is a new season, this a new Orlando Pirates, the one that manages to create a lot of chances and take their chances,” Mabasa told the media recently in Johannesburg. Going into the game, we are very motivated because I’ve always said that this club deserves to play in the Champions League each and every season. And not only play there but compete and that’s exactly what we are going out to do this coming weekend. It will be a difficult encounter, but we are well prepared for it,” he said.
[WATCH] ☠️ Orlando Pirates striker Tshegofatso Mabasa on facing Jwaneng Galaxy in the second prelim round of the #CAFCL on Saturday.
“People have been talking about what happened last season but this is a new Pirates, that creates chances and takes their chances.”#OnceAlways pic.twitter.com/h5egsvS7w0
— Ntsako Mkhari (@Ntsako_Mkhari_) September 12, 2024
Written by Ntsako Mkhari
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