Tendai Ndoro
SEVEN games without a goal is probably not considered much of a drought for strikers in South Africa these days, but when you’ve been in the kind of form that Tendai Ndoro has, it might become a bit of a worry.
The Zimbabwean forward banged in 11 goals in 11 Absa Premiership games between August and December, but is, however, yet to score in 2017 as Orlando Pirates’ form faltered.
Now, with Kjell Jonevret at the helm, the top-flight’s leading scorer says that he’s not worried as the goals will return for him when they gain more confidence, and that the Soweto Derby would be a fine day to regain his scoring touch.
Speaking to the Siya crew about his lack of goals —and whether it worried him, “Fire” said, “No, I’m not worried at all… The results are not coming for us all, but we have to work again to pick ourselves up, especially for Saturday (today)’s game.
“It would be a nice game to score again. First and foremost we want to win it to regain our confidence, because you know that if we win this game we go from zero to hundreds. It’ll be a crucial game for us as Orlando Pirates players.”
Ndoro also admitted that there have been too many draws against Kaizer Chiefs of late — 13 since 2010 to be exact — and that the Buccaneers aren’t looking for one point on today.
“When Orlando Pirates plays Kaizer Chiefs there are too many draws, but right now as a club, as players, we’ve discussed it and we want to score and win this game.”
The 28-year-old also found time to praise his new coach, saying, “So far he’s brought something new. We’re still waiting to see what comes next, but he’s a good man and he’s spoken to each of us. He’s giving us back the confidence that we lost. Right now everyone wants to play and everyone wants to fight.
That’s a good thing, we need such coaches at Orlando Pirates.”
Chiefs face Pirates at 3.30PM today as they look to beat the Buccaneers in the Absa Premiership for the first time since 2014.
— Soccer Laduma