The Buccaneers jetted off to Côte d’Ivoire in the early hours on Thursday morning ahead of the all-important Group C clash against the Ivorian Ligue 1 outfit. Orlando Pirates will lock horns with Stade d’Abidjan on Saturday.
Whilst a lot is known about Pirates’ two other opponents of the group in the 12-time champions and CAF Club of the Century – Al Ahly, and Algerian giants CR Belouizdad who are perennial features in this competition. There’s not much known about the side that the club will be facing over the weekend.
Orlandopiratesfc.com has compiled some fun facts surrounding this encounter:
Match Venue
The match will be played at Stade Félix Houphouët-Boigny. A 29 000-seater stadium situated in Le Plateu, Abidjan. Named after Cote d’Ivoire’s first President, Felix Houphouet Boigny, is the home venue for Asec Mimosa.
Stade d’Abidjan’s home venue for their local league games is the Stade Municipal d’Abidjan which has a capacity of about 1200.
Return to Abidjan
The Buccaneers return to the country where they clinched the 1995 CAF Champions League crown against all odds. A solitary goal from legend Jerry Sikhosana saw Bucs secure 1-0 victory.
Asec Mimosa avenged their defeat of 1995, eleven years later, defeating the Buccaneers 4-0 in front of their home fans in a Group Stage CAF Champions League clash.
Results:
• Orlando Pirates 2-2 Asec Mimosa (Champions League Final 1st Leg) 2 December 1995
• Asec Mimosa 0-1 Orlando Pirates (CAF Champions League 2nd Leg) 16 December 1995
• Orlando Pirates 1-1 Asec Mimosa (CAF Champions League Group Stages)
• Asec Mimosa 4-0 Orlando Pirates (CAF Champions League Group Stages)
Weather Conditions
The match will be played in the city of Plateu. This area is located 20m above sea level. Very different for Orlando Pirates players who come from the highveld where altitude sits at around 1700m above sea level. Altitude aside, the one thing that will have an affect on how the players exert themselves at the weekend will be the humidity.
For the game between Stade d’Abidjan and CR Belouizdad last weekend, a couple of players were seen with hands on knees as they struggled with the conditions. This seemed to affect players from both sides and not only the visitors.
The humidity forecast this weekend will average around 85%. For context, the humidity in Johannesburg averages at around 35% – 45%. Durban around this time of the year sits at around 85%-88%.
Alexandre Lafitte
Lafitte took over Stade d’Abidjan as a 25-year-old and he went on to guide them to CAF Champions League qualification this year. The French coach made history in his opening group match against Al Ahly as the youngest coach in the history of the competition at 27 years old.
SOURCED FROM THE ORLANDO PIRATES WEBSITE.
