Muhsin Ertugral believes Orlando Pirates are one of the best teams on the continent at the moment.
Ertugral’s Cape Town City will host Pirates in the Betway Premiership on Wednesday evening. The game comes just a few days after City beat Kaizer Chiefs 1-0 at the Cape Town Stadium.
That was Ertugral’s first game in charge at City since he took over as interim head coach following the sacking of Eric Tinkler.
Pirates are flying
While a win over Chiefs is not to be sniffed at, Amakhosi are struggling this season under new head coach Nasreddine Nabi. Pirates, on the other hand, are flying.
Jose Riveiro’s Buccaneers have already won the MTN8 and are going well in the Caf Champions League group stages. A win over City will move them ahead of Mamelodi Sundowns and back to the top of the Premiership table.
“Pirates are a team at the moment that I really admire. The coach (Riveiro) is doing an unbelievable job,” told Radio 2000 this week.
“I know how difficult it is,” added the man who resigned from the Pirates job after just a few months in charge in November 2016. Ertugral’s sudden departure came in the wake of a 6-1 hammering at the hands of SuperSport United.
“We have been analysing them (Pirates) In the last couple of days and they are one of the best teams on the continent, not only in South Africa,” continued Ertugral.
Ertugral – ‘It’s not easy’
“So they will be a tough nut to crack. It is not easy to play Chiefs, and Pirates immediately after.”
Ertugral, however, remains confident his side can get something out of this evening’s match in the Mother City.
“We are a young team and we can only learn and we will learn (from playing Pirates),” he added.
“We will try to play in certain ways and (we) could be successful. Why not?”
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