Micho Sredojevic: Orlando Pirates to benefit from Zambian camp

Orlando Pirates head coach Milutin ‘Micho’ Sredojevic is pleased with the progress his squad made during their pre-season training camp in the Mpumalanga province. 

The Soweto giants spent a week in Nelspruit where they endured an intensive pre-season camp under the tutelage of the Serbian tactician, who is assisted by Rulani Mokwena. 

The week-long camp in the Mpumalanga province concluded with a practice match this past weekend against a local club. 

The team flew out to Zambia on Tuesday where they will continue preparations for the new season which starts next month. 

Pirates will be based in Ndola – where they are set to play friendly matches against a few Zambian teams. 

The club’s Zambia internationals Augustine Mulenga and Justin Shonga will be returning home where they turned out for Zanaco FC and Nkwazi FC respectively before joining Pirates. 

Bucs gaffer Sredojevic, who will be in charge of the Buccaneers for the second successive season, deemed their Nelspruit camp a success. 

“We are in the building phase of our pre-season. This is the stage where we lay down the foundation for the season that lies ahead,” Sredojevic told the Bucs website. 

The former Uganda and Rwanda head coach worked with over 45 players plus trialists during the Bucs camp in Nelspruit.

“We had a successful trip to Nelspruit where we got to blend the old and new players together,” he continued. 

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“And now we are off to Zambia where we’ll continue to strengthen all departments by exposing them to different playing conditions and of course stronger opposition,” he concluded.

The Buccaneers are anticipating a grueling campaign which will see the team participate in five major tournaments namely – the Caf Champions League, Premier Soccer League, MTN8 Cup, Telkom Knockout Cup as well as the Nedbank Cup.

Bucs qualified for the Caf Champions League and MTN8 after finishing second on the PSL log last season.