Bucs’ dream bites the dust

ORLANDO Pirates will wake up from their ‘Impossible Dream’ after a futile night in Tunisia in the second-leg African Champions League semi-final against CS Sfaxien on Saturday to face the nightmarish ordeal of working their way up the ladder from bottom place on the local Premier League table after a succession of postponed fixtures.

But, for the meantime, the pain and tribulation will centre solely on the 1-0 defeat against the well-drilled Tunisian combination that gave them a 1-0 aggregate victory and a place in the final of Africa’s most lucrative and prestigious club competition. It ended the somewhat optimistic expectation that The Buccaneers might repeat the 1995 achievement when they became the first and still only Southern African side to annex Caf’s Champions’ trophy.A 37th minute goal from the consistently probing and dangerous Tarak Ziadi was sufficient to tip the scales in favour of the Tunisians, but in truth they outplayed a jaded, shell-shocked Pirates for much of the 90 minutes and might easily have recorded three or four more goals.Thwarting Sfaxien, almost single-handed at times, was goalkeeper Avril Phali, with the bitter irony that the Pirates goalkeeper was partially to blame for Sfaxien’s elusive goal after preventing them from scoring on a good half-a-dozen other occasions.In retrospect, however, Pirates effectively lost this tie in the goalless first leg at Ellis Park two weeks ago when they dominated the proceedings and squandered a glut of inviting opportunities.This time what emerged was the classic somersault in form that so often takes place over the two legs of a Continental Cup fixture, with home-ground advantage proving a decisive factor.The desperate Buccaneers brought on Lelo Mbele, Jabu Mahlangu (Pule) and Lebohang Mokoena after half-time in a last-ditch attempt to score the solitary goal that might have earned them a place in the final.But even with this motivating factor and an injection of fresh talent, Pirates were unable to lift their standard to any noticeable degree as Sfaxien continued to dominate the proceedings till the bitter end.SupersoccerIt ended the somewhat optimistic expectation that The Buccaneers might repeat the 1995 achievement when they became the first and still only Southern African side to annex Caf’s Champions’ trophy.A 37th minute goal from the consistently probing and dangerous Tarak Ziadi was sufficient to tip the scales in favour of the Tunisians, but in truth they outplayed a jaded, shell-shocked Pirates for much of the 90 minutes and might easily have recorded three or four more goals.Thwarting Sfaxien, almost single-handed at times, was goalkeeper Avril Phali, with the bitter irony that the Pirates goalkeeper was partially to blame for Sfaxien’s elusive goal after preventing them from scoring on a good half-a-dozen other occasions.In retrospect, however, Pirates effectively lost this tie in the goalless first leg at Ellis Park two weeks ago when they dominated the proceedings and squandered a glut of inviting opportunities.This time what emerged was the classic somersault in form that so often takes place over the two legs of a Continental Cup fixture, with home-ground advantage proving a decisive factor.The desperate Buccaneers brought on Lelo Mbele, Jabu Mahlangu (Pule) and Lebohang Mokoena after half-time in a last-ditch attempt to score the solitary goal that might have earned them a place in the final.But even with this motivating factor and an injection of fresh talent, Pirates were unable to lift their standard to any noticeable degree as Sfaxien continued to dominate the proceedings till the bitter end.Supersoccer