Former Orlando Pirates winger Daine Klate has admitted that his former side are favourites to lift the MTN8 trophy against Stellenbosch in Mbombela this weekend however Stellies also has a chance at the title.
Pirates is targeting a fourth successive MTN8 title while this is Steve Barker’s side’s second appearance in the Wafa Wafa final in two straight seasons. Last year’s decider between the sides was a controversial affair with Klate hoping for a cleaner encounter this time around. The Durban City DDC side coach told iDiski Times senior writer Matshelane Mamabolo in edition 221 of the newspaper about why feels this is anybody’s game.
“Both teams can win it, and of course, Stellies can cause an upset,” Klate told iDiski Times.
“But they are the underdogs and I am in no doubt that just about everyone will back Pirates to win, and I agree, given just how good a team they are. We are in for an interesting game, though, because on their day, Stellenbosch can beat anyone.”
The 40 year old also noted Pirates’ dominance in domestic cups recently and the uncertainties that came with having a new coach at the start of the current campaign. However he believes Abdeslam Ouaddou is closer to his predecessor Jose Riveiro with his approach to the game.
“We’ve all seen how Pirates have been the dominating team in cup competitions in recent seasons, and they have really come good in the past four/five years” added Klate.
“They’ve even gotten closer to [Mamelodi] Sundowns in the league, and the signs are promising that they are catching up. “Even though they’ve changed coaches, they remain a very good team. Yes, when the new coach came in, there was a bit of, I want to call it period of uncertainty as the players were getting used to him.”
“That takes time, but things have been positive for them so far, because the coach appears very articulate and specific in what he wants out of the team. He seems very organised and is close to coach [Jose] Riveiro [his predecessor] – it’s like Pirates got a similar coach to the previous one in that they both appear to have the same ideas on modern tactics and how the game moves.”
