Ramoreboli braces for ‘three types’ of Pirates

Orlando Pirates may have beaten Jwaneng Galaxy twice in the past, but history isn't entirely favouring the Soweto giants against Botswana teams in the CAF Champions League second preliminary round.

This is because Gaborone United sent Pirates packing in the same Champions League prelim phase in 2010. The first leg ended 0-0 in the Botswana capital, while the second leg ended 2-2 to see the Sea Robbers crash out on the away goals rule.

Galaxy host the Sea Robbers in the tournament's first leg at Botswana National Stadium on Sunday (3pm). The second leg is billed for Orlando Stadium on September 29. Pirates first faced a Botswana opposition when they beat the Defence Force XI 6-0 at home and 3-1 on the road in the 1999 African Cup Winners' Cup.

Pirates played Galaxy in the Confed Cup play-off, where the Buccaneers won 4-0 on aggregate in 2021. They beat Galaxy 3-0 away and 1-0 at Orlando Stadium.

Speaking to Sowetan this week, SA-born Galaxy coach Morena Ramoreboli sounded confident that he's done thorough research on Pirates. The Galaxy coach also narrated the “three types” of Pirates, identifying Thembinkosi Lorch, Patrick Masangwanyi and Kabelo Dlamini as the orchestrators of the three ways Pirates play.

“Planning for Pirates is something that anyone can do. It's an advantage for me to know what to expect from Pirates. There are three types of Orlando Pirates. One, there's Orlando Pirates with Lorch. Two Orlando Pirates with Maswanganyi and lastly Orlando Pirates with Dlamini.

“So, whatever you do you must anticipate that you might face one of the three Orlando Pirates I've mentioned because the three of them are different Orlando Pirates.

“The one with Lorch has a lot of combination plays... a lot of rotations and a lot of entries into the box. The one with Maswanganyi is more of overloads and the one for Dlamini is the one that plays directly and into half spaces.”