Da Gama not fazed by Pirates

Most teams would call it a fixture from hell but, for Owen da Gama, a meeting with Orlando Pirates this early in the season will do just fine.

Da Gama’s Platinum Stars take on the Absa Premiership champions this evening (Orlando Stadium, 7.30pm) and, after stunning runners-up Ajax Cape Town on the opening day, the Phokeng-based side have now set their sights on flooring another giant.

“Playing tough matches so early in the season has a lot of benefits,” Da Gama said yesterday when asked if he would have preferred an easier start to the campaign.

“Next week we have Bloemfontein Celtic. This means our first three league fixtures are against teams that finished in the top five and you can never lose anything playing against them. It’s the best preparation for you to gauge your strengths and weaknesses against the very best.”

Stars got the season off to a flyer when they shocked Ajax 2-0 at Phokeng over the weekend, Da Gama crediting that win to a well-planned pre-season programme.

“We had a good pre-season, playing about 13 matches. We went to camps in Potchefstroom and Botswana, and that helped us a lot.”

Not one of Stars’ pre-season games were broadcast, and Da Gama believes his team have a slight advantage in that they were able to watch Pirates paraded on national TV throughout the off season.

“I’m aware that they did watch our game against Ajax, but I think we know them much better than they know us. We saw them in all these (pre-season) competitions and that’s definitely an advantage.”

Da Gama – who coached Pirates in 2007 – travelled to Polokwane on Friday to watch his former team win against Black Leopards.

“I think they will be difficult to beat again this season,” he said. “They have depth and have made good signings. We know that we are up against a very strong side (tonight). But that doesn’t mean anybody should take us lightly.”

On the evidence of their destruction of Ajax, Stars will indeed be hard to beat this season, especially as Da Gama has prepared the team himself this time after being roped in just before the start of last year’s campaign.

“I managed to refresh the team with some youngsters, but we also recruited experienced campaigners, such as Robert N’gambi, Elias Ngwepe and Morgan Shivambu. These will give our team some balance.”

Stars finished outside the top eight for the past three seasons and not surprisingly, Da Gama did not aim high when asked about objectives for the new season.

“Our aim is to get the foundation right, then from next season, we can aim for something. We need to have a strong base, make it difficult for teams to beat us.”

Meanwhile, Kaizer Chiefs yesterday completed the signing of Willard Katsande from Ajax. The Zimbabwean midfielder signed a three-year deal at Naturena and should be available for selection immediately. Katsande made just three league starts for the Urban Warriors last season. “With a number of local midfielders available and in order to free-up a place of a foreigner in the Ajax squad, Willard was granted his move to Chiefs,” Ajax chief executive George Comitis told his club’s website.

FIXTURES

Absa Premiership

Tonight: Pirates v Platinum Stars, Orlando; Celtic v Leopards, Seisa Ramabodu Stadium

Tomorrow: Ajax Cape Town v Maritzburg United, Cape Town Stadium; SuperSport United v Golden Arrows, Lucas Moripe Stadium; AmaZulu v Free State Stars, King Zwelithini Stadium; BIDVest Wits v Santos, Mbombela; Jomo Cosmos v Mamelodi Sundowns, Sinaba Stadium, 8pm; Moroka Swallows v Kaizer Chiefs, Dobsonville, 8pm

MTN8 Semi-finals

First leg

Saturday: Chiefs v Ajax, FNB Stadium, 8.15pm

Sunday: Pirates v Sundowns, Orlando, 3pm - The Star