Sport Matters

Steely... Strong and confident approach is what Pirates need against Al Ahly  Tonight Orlando Pirates get the grandest chance to undo all the wrong things about South African teams when out playing on the continent, more so in north and west Africa. Pirates take a narrow lead to the second leg tie of their CAF Confederation Cup semifinal against Al Ahly in Egypt. For many years, as this blog has argued, that poor preparation and small mindedness had been the downfall of SA football on the continent. Bafana Bafana fiasco in Mauritania and Pirates 4-1 hammering in Egypt by Zamalek are the most recent examples. South African clubs' homework about teams and locations they travel to had been appalling. It had been nauseating to hear SA players and team officials talk about "shocking conditions" when arriving home from a fixture in another part of Africa.  The real shock is not the conditions, but the temerity of our teams to travel without comprehensive information abou