Orlando Pirates striker Kermit Erasmus is looking forward to having the club test itself against European opposition during the pre-season tour in Spain.
The Buccaneers have embarked on a historic first European-based pre-season tour where they are set to face Israeli outfit Maccabi Tel Aviv, Independiente da Valle from Ecuador and newly promoted Spanish La Liga side UD Las Palmas.
Erasmus, who has played in Portugal, Netherlands and France for various senior teams is looking forward to the chance to test themselves to gauge where they are in terms of performance on the world stage.
“We travelled more than half a day for our training camp to prepare for the season ahead,” said Erasmus
“It’s been good so far, training has been going well, we did a few passing exercises, so we are looking forward to it.”
The former SuperSport United, Cape Town City and Mamelodi Sundowns forward marked his return to the Soweto giants by claiming a domestic cup double following their MTN 8 and Nedbank Cup triumphs last season.
“Coming to Europe for the first time as a South African team is a great experience, not only for myself but everybody included, it’s great that we get to experience and play teams from abroad and get to test ourselves and see how far off or how close we are to getting to the next level,” said the 33-year-old.
“It’s all about improving and being consistent throughout the season, that is what we are trying to build, we laid a good foundation last season and ended the season very well, so this is a very good base for us to continue going.”
Pirates will play their first tour match on Thursday 13 July.
