Cape Town City head coach Eric Tinkler has got the mind games underway ahead of an upcoming clash against Orlando Pirates after defeating Sekhukhune United in an MTN8 clash this past weekend.
The Mother City outfit beat Babina Noko 1-0 in their own backyard to set up a semi-final meeting with defending champions Orlando Pirates. City are the only team that finished outside of the top three last season but remain in the competition.
“The fact of the matter is that we finished fourth, Sekhukhune finished fourth, so we are the surprise package,” said Tinkler.
Fixtures and venues for the semi-finals will be announced by the PSL in due course as Mamelodi Sundowns will take on Stellenbosch in the other last-four match.
Tinkler, meanwhile, has kept a keen eye on the Buccaneers during pre-season and has already made some mental notes on how to try and dismantle Jose Riveiro’s well-oiled Sea Robbers.
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“We watched a lot of Pirates games while they were away in Spain. Pirates have a lot of quality at their disposal, they are a very big team and it is not going to be easy.
“I feel that they themselves played a very open game against SuperSport. SuperSport could have taken the lead but they didn’t, and Pirates ended up being victors,” Tinkler explained.
“For all the teams, the first game is the most difficult because we still don’t know 100% where we are lacking in terms of the physicality and the tactical elements of the game together with the confidence.
“Winning the game against Sekhukhune United because we have been building confidence that we have been building over the past six weeks,” he added.
Elimination from the tournament would have meant City must wait for September 14 for competitive action when they kick off their 2024/24 league campaign away to Royal AM, which is about five weeks of idling.
“There is that element that I need to sit and plan. There is a long period, it is almost another pre-season that you have to sit and prepare for. Those friendly games will never give you the true estimate of where you are,” said the City manager.
“For us to be able to progress into the next round, and have these competitive matches that we have to play in order to get ourselves into the finals, that’s very important and it makes my job a little bit easier because I don’t need to go find opponents to play against us.
“We don’t have many PSL clubs based in the Western Cape, so finding friendlies is very difficult. I am very happy that we have gone through and we can continue that competitiveness,” he added.
ℹ️ Cape Town City FC have been drawn at home to Orlando Pirates in the #MTN8 semi-final 🏆
— Cape Town City FC (@CapeTownCityFC) August 11, 2024
The tie will be played between 21 August and 31 August.#iamCityFC | #MTN8 pic.twitter.com/ESbXyJNN3h
