Scottland FC set Pirates Cup tone as CAFCL ambitions grow for seniors

These were the views of their U21 team head coach, Danger Fourpence, after watching his team conclude their run in the 10^th edition of the Pirates Cup on Friday. This was Scottland FC’s 2^nd appearance at this tournament, and, according to Fourpence, it is part of the club’s vision to build a strong team and to compete broadly...

"As you can see we are a very ambitious club, Scottland are doing well back home in second position. It's a big team with big ambitions.

"Even with these boys, you can see the challenges and going to the first team isn't easy, it's very competitive so we just have to keep pushing these boys."

In the Southern African region, Mzansi has the strongest football programmes and academies, including tournaments, and the Pirates Cup is one of those. 

In the men’s section, where Scottland were competing, they finished second in Group B with just four points behind the University of Pretoria with seven points, and won’t be progressing to the knockout phase, as only the group winners and the best placed runner-up go through. 

"This is a good experience for my boys, they played very well but the first game was very tough on us playing against TUKS.

"Maybe my boys were a bit fatigued after travelling from Zimbabwe. The boys are still adjusting and I think we just have to stay focused on our next game."

READ: Casey Gordon urges consistency as JVW make perfect start to Pirates Cup campaign

In their group, Scottland had AmaTuks, Galeshewe Stars from Northern Cape and Limpopo School of Excellence, a good mix of teams from around the country. Fourpence says this was a good blend of competition for them, against strong and emerging SA teams to test themselves against.