{"id":2002,"date":"2026-09-05T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-05T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/?p=2002"},"modified":"2026-09-05T09:08:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-05T07:08:29","slug":"fish-backs-pirates-to-succeed-in-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/05\/fish-backs-pirates-to-succeed-in-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Fish backs Pirates to succeed in Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

South African football legend Mark Fish has backed Orlando Pirates to succeed in Africa this season.<\/p>\n

Pirates, who won the Betway Premiership last season, will begin their CAF Champions League campaign on Sunday when they face La Cure Waves in Mauritius for the first leg of a first qualifying round tie.<\/p>\n

The Buccaneers are looking to progress at least into the group stage of the elite continental competition \u2013 something they failed to do last season when they were eliminated in the second qualifying round by DR Congo\u2019s St Eloi Lupopo (5-4 on penalties after a 3-3 aggregate draw).<\/p>\n

Fish, who was part of Pirates\u2019 legendary 1995 team that won the Champions League (then known as the African Cup of Champions Clubs), believes this generation of Buccaneers players has what it takes to advance deep in the competition this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know the chairman [Irvin Khoza], deep down, his passion for Africa. We know it, and they desire to go into Africa and win it. This weekend, they\u2019re travelling to Mauritius, and it\u2019s important for them to get a result there,\u201d Fish told Soccerbeat<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The former Bafana Bafana defender added, \u201cYou have players that have moved on and then new players, so that\u2019s exciting. They have experienced players who have experienced Africa, and young players who don\u2019t know it, so it\u2019s an opportunity for them to express themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cI do believe the coach will know how to handle the players.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fish wants to see his former club take it one step at a time in the Champions League, and ensure that they don\u2019t repeat the mistakes of last season: \u201cReach the group stages and see how it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South African football legend Mark Fish has backed Orlando Pirates to succeed in Africa this season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":2003,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[55,56],"class_list":["post-2002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-betway-premiership","tag-orlando-pirates"],"yoast_head":"\nFish backs Pirates to succeed in Africa - GoalMzansi.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"South African football legend Mark Fish has backed Orlando Pirates to succeed in Africa this season.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/goalmzansi.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/05\/fish-backs-pirates-to-succeed-in-africa\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fish backs Pirates to succeed in Africa - 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