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Cape Town - Orlando Pirates midfielder Oupa Manyisa believes his team-mates will not be intimidated by the 45 000-capacity crowd at the Stade Olympique De Radès stadium in Tunisia on Saturday.
Pirates will take on the North African giants Esperance in their CAF Champions League semi-final second leg, after the first encounter ended in a goalless stalemate at the Orlando Stadium two weeks ago.
Speaking exclusively to the club's website, "Ace" hinted that the Buccaneers squad is full of players with international experience and that will be an advantage to the Soweto giants in the encounter.
“Look, let me put it this way. We have a number of players in the squad who have national team experience. Some of these players have played in front of even larger crowds so I don’t think this will be much of a problem for us,” said Manyisa.
“The Soweto derby is another match that requires you to be mentally strong... the expectations of all 85 000-90 000 supporters in a derby are always high. I believe this type of pressure has prepared us for our match against Esperance.”
Roger De Sa's charges needs a victory or any scoring stalemate to advance to the final of the 2013 continental showpiece to be played next month.
History still favours the South African side as they are unbeaten against the two-time CAF champions in their previous two matches.
Esperance have lost only four matches at home in the last six years, but the Buccaneers will fancy causing an upset as they did in Lubumbashi against TP Mazembe earlier in the competition.
The Sea Robbers also triumphed 3-0 over the Egyptian giants Al Ahly in their own backyard in the group stages.
The clash is set to commence at 20:00 South African time.
http://www.orlandopiratesfc.com/default.asp?aId=2156814
Pirates will take on the North African giants Esperance in their CAF Champions League semi-final second leg, after the first encounter ended in a goalless stalemate at the Orlando Stadium two weeks ago.
Speaking exclusively to the club's website, "Ace" hinted that the Buccaneers squad is full of players with international experience and that will be an advantage to the Soweto giants in the encounter.
“Look, let me put it this way. We have a number of players in the squad who have national team experience. Some of these players have played in front of even larger crowds so I don’t think this will be much of a problem for us,” said Manyisa.
“The Soweto derby is another match that requires you to be mentally strong... the expectations of all 85 000-90 000 supporters in a derby are always high. I believe this type of pressure has prepared us for our match against Esperance.”
Roger De Sa's charges needs a victory or any scoring stalemate to advance to the final of the 2013 continental showpiece to be played next month.
History still favours the South African side as they are unbeaten against the two-time CAF champions in their previous two matches.
Esperance have lost only four matches at home in the last six years, but the Buccaneers will fancy causing an upset as they did in Lubumbashi against TP Mazembe earlier in the competition.
The Sea Robbers also triumphed 3-0 over the Egyptian giants Al Ahly in their own backyard in the group stages.
The clash is set to commence at 20:00 South African time.
http://www.orlandopiratesfc.com/default.asp?aId=2156814
