MC Alger coach whips up players ahead of Pirates clash

MC Alger (MCA) coach Khaled Ben Yahia has produced some fighting talk, urging his players to take their chances as the Algerian club seeks a decent lead from Tuesday’s first leg at home against Orlando Pirates in their Caf Champions League quarterfinal.

The Buccaneers were impressive in the round-robin phase, going unbeaten to top group C, which earned them the marginal advantage of playing the first leg of the quarterfinal away at what is sure to be a packed 64,000-seat Stade du 5 Juillet 1962 in Algiers (9pm SA time).

If Pirates can come away with a draw or even snatch a win against the second-placed side to Sudan’s Al-Hilal in group A, they will be well set up to close the deal at Orlando Stadium on April 9.

Pirates, the 1995 champions, are competing in their first quarterfinal since reaching the 2013 final, where they lost 3-1 on aggregate against Egyptian giants Al Ahly.

The Algerian sports news website Competition.dz, which appears to have had access to some of Ben Yahia’s prematch comments to his players, reported he told his charges the Bucs game is a “match like no other”.

“It's not a simple league match where you can make up for it the next week. It's a Champions League quarterfinal. If you want to make history for Mouloudia [MC’s full name is Mouloudia Club d'Alger], it's now.

“Get it into your heads that a draw or a defeat would put us in great difficulty before the return to SA. We must win this match, whatever the cost.

“You must be at 200% from the first minute to the final whistle. It's not a question of talent; it's a question of determination, mental strength and the will to win.”

Ben Yahia expects Pirates to be tough to break down and said he wants his players to take their chances.

“When an opportunity presents itself, we have to score. There won't be 10 chances, there might be three or four.

“I don't want to see any player lower their heads, any player back down from a duel. You are warriors. You must fight for every ball, press, win back and harass the opponent.”

While Pirates have not come close to matching 2016 winners Mamelodi Sundowns’ consistent knockout stage qualification in the Champions League of the past decade, Bucs have a strong continental pedigree. Apart from winning the Champions League in the 1990s and reaching a final last decade, in the Caf Confederation Cup Bucs were losing finalists in 2015 and
2021-22.

Pirates might be slight favourites against eight-time Algerian champions MCA, who have not reached a Confed or Champions League final since winning the latter in 1976. Coach Jose Riveiro’s Buccaneers, though, will also know any North African team with pedigree and history will be tough to break down.

For Bucs, who had a morale-boosting 2-1 win against Downs to get themselves back in the Premiership race in their last match on March 16, Relebohile Mofokeng's exploits in Bafana Bafana's 2-0 World Cup qualifying wins against Lesotho and Benin are also timely.

Mofokeng, who had shown some signs of fatigue, scored against Lesotho to add to his match-winning brace against Sundowns.