Bucs braced for Sevilla fight

Orlando Pirates skipper Innocent Maela is positive they will put in a good display when they face Spanish La Liga side Sevilla at Los Nervionenses’ training base in a friendly tonight (9pm SA time).

Tonight’s game will be Pirates’ second friendly of their Spanish preseason tour after playing a 2-all stalemate against English second-tier side Plymouth Argyle, who are coached by Manchester United legend Wayne Rooney, on Friday. Evidence Makgopa and Olisa Ndah were on target for the Buccaneers against Rooney’s charges.

The Sea Robbers have since switched their concentration to Sevilla, who finished 14th on the La Liga table last season. “It’s a good opportunity to test ourselves. It should be a good game and we are all looking forward to it,” Maela told sportscaster Thomas Mlambo.

Coming from a winter season in SA, Pirates have had to acclimatise to scorching heat as it’s summer in Spain. Yesterday it was 37°Celsius. Bucs midfielder Philip Ndlondlo admitted the heat was unbearable, feeling sorry for his teammates who are experiencing such conditions for the first time as most of them got the feeling of this when they were there last year.

“The last few days were better but today [yesterday] is worse. We are experiencing the weather that we experienced the last time we were here, so good luck to the guys who are new to the team. This is what we used to experience each and every day here last year,” Ndlondlo said.

Meanwhile, Ndah reflected on netting a rare goal against Plymouth. “It feels good. I was excited. I tried to head the ball, they pulled me back and then it fell to Inno [Maela] and then he dropped it for me and I placed it in the top corner. Funny enough we did the same thing in training and I think we should do it more often,” Ndah said.

Pirates will take on Granada, who were relegated from La Liga to Secunda Division last season, on Wednesday in another friendly before wrapping up their preseason tour against Qatar Stars League outfit Al Sadd SC on Friday.