Having a born again Orlando Pirates team that won a cup double last season in the domestic league competing in the CAF Champions League in the coming campaign, is a boost for South African football, more especially for Bafana Bafana.
Players like Innocent Maela, Monnapule Saleng, Miguel Timm, Zakhele Lepasa and Nkosinathi Sibisi, who are national team players will welcome the prospect of competing against the best that Africa has to offer in club football.
They should be able to transfer their CAFCL experience to the national team.
But for the above players to really get the feel of what it is like to play in Africa, Pirates will have to at least make the group stages.
The big question is whether they have what it takes to get that far.
In my opinion, Pirates have enough ammunition in their arsenal to reach the group stages and even go further.
Besides the Bafana Internationals in their ranks, they also have capable players like Thabang Monare, Makhehlene Makhaula, Thapelo Xoki, and the experienced Kermit Erasmus to name only a few.
Individuals aside, as a team, Amabhakaniya showed enough tactical/technical maturity to be able to do well in Africa.
Their defense is solid, and offensively they are a team capable of unlocking defenses and create goal scoring opportunities.
It is maybe in psychological aspects of the game where Bucs might be found wanting, which is unfortunately the most important aspect for a team hoping to do well in Africa.
If they can be well prepared mentally to withstand the pressures of travelling, fixture congestion, and opposition antics on and off the pitch aimed at unsettling them, there is no reason Bucs cannot go far.
Like Ofori, I also believe Bucs can compete in Africa.
