Keet: Pirates Will Be Hell Of A Task

 Cape Town City goalkeeper Darren Keet believes his side needs no further motivation to produce a complete performance when they host Orlando Pirates in their first leg of the MTN 8 semifinal at the DHL Stadium on Wednesday evening (19:00). 

The Citizens reached the last four stage by defeating Sekhukhune United 1-0 at the Peter Mokaba Stadium earlier this month. 

Meanwhile, defending champions, Pirates ran rampant against SuperSport United recording a 3-1 win to secure their spot in the semifinals. 

 “I don’t think we need extra motivation, the magnitude of the game in itself is an occasion,” Keet said ahead of the match. “We’re just happy to have a chance to go at them.” 

 “We’ve been working hard, we’ve had a long pre-season, and it will be an interesting game. We are well prepared for it. In terms of motivation, a semi is motivation itself, and we are prepared.” 

 The last time City won the prestigious trophy was back in 2018 when they defeated SuperSport United 4-1 in a penalty shootout in Durban under coach Benni McCarthy. 

 Since then, they’ve struggled to get their hands on the piece of silverware, and last year crashed out of the competition after losing 2-1 against Kaizer Chiefs at the Athlone Stadium. 

 This time around, however, Keet believes his team will reap the benefits of the preseason work they’ve put in. “Everything we’ve done so far has been brilliant – we went to Polokwane and played on a disaster of a pitch, which wasn’t ideal, but we did the job we needed to do,” he added. 

“We came back to training and continued the good work – what’s been good is that there’s has been an improvement.” He added: “We’ve put together a decent squad this season, looking forward to the semi-final and then the season ahead also – but the MTN8 is the next big test.” 

 The 35-year-old is one of the experienced players in the City camp. Unlike many of his teammates, he has the experience of knowing what it feels like to win a major trophy. He won the same MTN8 trophy back in the 2016/2017 season with Bidvest Wits when they defeated Mamelodi Sundowns in the final. 

He said keeping a clean sheet in the first leg, while his teammates convert their chances in front of goal will be the plan against Pirates. 

 “Playing at home first, the most important thing is to get a couple of goals and keep a clean sheet to take away back to Orlando,” the shot-stopper explained. 

 “It’s always going to be a hell of a task, but as I said, we’re prepared for it. We have a stable defence, a stable team at the moment and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be able to do it. A clean sheet and a few goals is definitely what we’re looking for.”