‘We are still there, we are still within our objectives,’ Sibisi told Pirates media.
Orlando Pirates captain Nkosinathi Sibisi says Orlando Pirates’ remain unwavering in their belief that they can win the Betway Premiership title.
This is after the Buccaneers could only manage a goalless draw against Durban City on Saturday at the Orlando Amstel Arena in their final home game of the season.
Must-win for Pirates
Pirates now have to beat ORBIT College at Mbombela Stadium on Saturday in their final game of the campaign, if they are to beat Mamelodi Sundowns to the title.
Victory for Pirates over City would basically have made the ORBIT College game a formality. Now, however, Pirates must get three points against a team battling for their lives to avoid relegation.
“We are still there, we are still within our objectives,” Sibisi told Pirates media after the City game.
“There is no reason to doubt (that we will win the title). The performance today showed that we wanted to win. Unfortunately it was not enough. But in our final game against Orbit there is no reason not to believe.
“We would have loved to end the season at home with three points. It wasn’t meant to be, we tried. It wasn’t through a lack of fighting. The boys tried until the final whistle.”
The stats showed that Pirates had over 30 shots on goal against City, but ultimately fans in Orlando were left still wondering if the club will end a 14 year wait for a Betway Premiership trophy.
Buccaneers coach Abdeslam Ouaddou, meanwhile, said they had done all they could in the week to keep the players calm with all the title hype swirling around.
Ouaddou – ‘It is so difficult in an era of social media’
“I think we have the third youngest team in the PSL,” said Ouaddou.
“You have some advantages with a young team, you have freshness and a lot of quality. But sometimes you also have disadvantages. You are dealing with and managing games where there is a lot of pressure.
“What we did during the week was to bring things down, to bring calm, to tell the players how we want to defend and attack. You don’t want to just be focused on the outside environment.
“It is so difficult in an era of social media. You cannot avoid it. A lot of people were celebrating before the game was played.
“I don’t have anything to reproach the players for. They gave everything. It is simply football and let’s go for the next one.”
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