CAF CC: Pirates' Bandile Shandu targets gold medal

Orlando Pirates’ midfielder Bandile Shandu will be banking on his top form in the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup to take the South African side to the podium.

The Buccaneers will travel to the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Nigeria to face Moroccan side RS Berkane in the final of the competition on Friday May 20th.

Pirates defeated Libya’s Al Ahli Tripoli with a 2-1 on aggregate to reach the last round of the competition and Shandu has contributed four goals for his team to aid his side to reach the finals for the second time.

The Soweto side fell to Étoile du Sahel in the 2015 edition of the competition in Cameroon.

“The occasion itself just brings everyone to step up, to spring a bit more than the previous game. I think to win, you need to be on top of your game. You need to be fully focused and working hard, nothing beats hard work.”

“I think we will do very well. It’s an amazing feeling, the build up to the final sets how big the occasion is and it’s a huge privilege to be part of a fantastic team, Orlando Pirates,” he added.

Finishing the competition with a gold medal on his neck would be a great debut season with the Buccaneers, he joined the Soweto side in July 2021 on a three year contract from Maritzburg United.

“It’s been a great experience and I would like to thank the team mates that I have and the technical staff. They have helped me to settle. My form in this competition goes to my team mates, they have been helping me very well. I think it showed with what I’ve been doing. I’m truly grateful for them.”

“When you get to a team like Orlando Pirates, it’s about winning. So you must quickly adjust to that and that’s the first thing I recognized when I came here, is winning. You need to have silverware, that what the fans want. That’s what the players want and you must quickly adjust to that. We will try to fulfil that and bring the silverware back home,” he further added.