Orlando Pirates’ strength in depth is evidenced by their strong contingent at Afcon qualifying. Let’s take a closer look.
Orlando Pirates have eight players at Afcon qualifiers
As many as eight Bucs stars could be in action for their nations over the Afcon break. Six are with the Bafana squad, namely Evidence Makgopa, Patrick Maswanganyi, Relebohile Mofokeng, Sipho Chaine, Thalente Mbatha and Nkosinathi Sibisi. New signing Gilberto is with Angola while reliable utility man Deon Hotto will hope to add to his impressive tally of 65 caps for Namibia.
Who are the most valuable Buccaneers?
As things stand, Nkosinathi Sibisi and Patrick Maswanganyi are the two most valuable stars at Pirates. The pair are each valued at €1.4 million, or approximately R27 million. Golden Boot holder Tshegofatso Mabasa follows closely at €1.3 million or approximately R25 million. Meanwhile, the trio of Tapelo Xoki, Deano van Rooyen and Monnapule Saleng are all valued at €1.2 million or R23 million. Big money signing Gilberto, who arrived for R11 million, is now valued at a lowly R3.8 million but there’s hope this number will grow as he grows accustomed to South African football. German football website transfermarkt reckons Relebohile Mofokeng’s value currently hovers around the €800k (R15.3 million) mark. Surely that number will continue to rise as his stock does the same. Now a Bafana international, Mofokeng has surpassed the 50 appearances mark for the Buccaneers. He only turned 20 on October 23rd.
Five fixtures are on the horizon as the chase for silverware hots up
Jose Riveiro’s men have three league encounters to prepare for in the next month and they’ve also got two tasty Caf Champions League clashes on the horizon. The visit of African champions Al Ahly on 06 December is one to get in the diary. There’s also the prospect of a meeting with Bafana and former Cape Town City striker Khanyisa Mayo when Pirates go North to face Belouizdad of Algeria on 26 November.
- Belouizdad vs Pirates: Tue, 26 November, kickoff time TBC
- Pirates vs Stellenbosch: Sat, 30 November, 15:30
- Gallants vs Pirates: Tue, 03 December, 19:30
- Pirates vs Al Ahly: Fri, 06 December, kickoff time TBC
- Pirates vs Golden Arrows: Tue, 10 December, 19:30
Who is your favourite Pirates player?
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