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Cape Town - Having missed the chance to go to the next 2018 Soccer World Cup, New Zealand striker Jeremy Brockie is determined to help SuperSport United to victory in the CAF Confederation Cup.
Brockie's New Zealand team lost 0-2 on aggregate to Peru in a World Cup 2018 play-off a couple of weeks ago.
But with little time to dwell on that defeat as SuperSport's two-legged final with TP Mazembe loomed large, Brockie has tried to put the World Cup qualification failure to the back of his mind.
Speaking ahead of the second leg showdown (SuperSport lost the first leg 1-2 last weekend), Brockie says victory in a major African Cup final would significantly ease the pain at missing out on the World Cup finals in Russia.
"I was probably lucky enough that the TP Mazembe game came soon after our loss in Peru‚" he was quoted saying by the TimesLIVE website.
"It did not give me enough time to reflect and think about missing out on the World Cup too much.
"It was obviously disappointing that the dream ended on the last hurdle but I have been lucky enough to play at one World Cup tournament and being so close to another one did hurt a lot. It is every kid's dream to play at the World Cup," he conceded.
Brockie is the leading score in the Confederation Cup with 10 goals and plans to increase his tally on Saturday in Pretoria.
"In terms of club career‚ winning this tournament would be right there at the top‚" he said.
"The only thing higher from a club point of view is winning the Champions League and going to the FIFA Club World Cup.
"It will be pretty special to end the campaign as the top goal scorer. I am not happy with just 10 goals and hopefully I will score one or two more to take the team over the line.
"When I first came to South Africa‚ I wanted to get into this tournament to test myself and we find ourselves in the final which is a very special feeling. It has been a roller coaster ride and hopefully I will round it off by winning this trophy."
Kick off is at 20:30.
