The Buccaneers coach has reacted after their successful qualification for the continental spot
Orlando Pirates coach Josef Zinnbauer has expressed his delight after leading the Soweto giants to a Caf Confederation Cup spot, saying he is happy they finished third.
The Buccaneers completed their 2019/20 Premier Soccer League (PSL) season with a 1-0 win over Stellenbosch on Saturday afternoon at Ellis Park Stadium.
A solitary strike for the former African champions means they managed to join the new champions Mamelodi Sundowns and Kaizer Chiefs who finished in the continental competitions for the upcoming term.
“Compliments to the team, we have now 17 games and 35 points – that’s more than two points per game, that’s a top result,” said Zinnbauer.
“Yeah, I’m happy now for the club that we stayed in third place, we can now go to Africa, which was a target we did not have before [the game] but we have it now.
“Now the focus for me is on next season, we come back to the performance we saw before and not what we have now [during the bubble].”
Ahead of the clash against Stellies, Pirates secured a victory over SuperSport United and Maritzburg United, and to secure a third-place finish will be appreciated by the Ghost family.
Even though they have ended the campaign empty-handed, the 2018/19 PSL runners-up managed to secure 52 points from 30 league matches.
Under the German manager, Pirates are tipped to challenge for the lucrative title come next season as they have managed to finish better than Bidvest Wits and Matsatsantsa.
Since taking over from Rhulani Mokwena back in December, Zinnbauer managed to steer the ship to calmer waters and ultimately feels their tally of 35 points from 17 games under his watch is a worthy achievement.
Despite having a number of changes in their technical team where coach Milutin Sredojevic left the club in August, Pirates roped in Mokwena but the astute tactician left the club after Zinnbauer’s appointment and joined Chippa United.
In addition, the Soweto-born coach left the Chilli Boys to reunite with Pitso Mosimane at Chloorkop and they have managed to retain their league title to become the first club to hold 10 titles.
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