The Buccaneers were edged 1-0 by Cape Town City in an entertaining encounter at Cape Town Stadium, with Ayanda Patosi’s second-half strike proving the difference.
“Micho” insists his side had done as much homework as possible on their Last 16 opponents, which proved fruitless in the end.
“In the build up to this game, over last week, we tried to pay attention to every detail, as to what could happen in the game,” he told reporters after the game. “But you can prepare every detail, but a game of football, with its trickiness and unpredictability, brings something you do not expect. We knew we were playing against a very good and competitive team, and that it would be tactical chess. We should have scored in the first half, and thinking too much about that, we then allowed the opponent to come.
“As we predicted, one moment of brilliant would decide the game, and it came from their side. We tried everything later on, with patience, to bring the ball into crossing are
as to deliver crosses as it was difficult to pass through the middle with Teko Modise and Roland Putsche sitting there … we put on three strikers and threw everything at the opponents, but unfortunately we could not unlock their defence.”
Sredojevic says he could not fault his players for their efforts, and insists he won’t dwell on the defeat as he looks ahead to Pirates’ upcoming league clash on the weekend.
“It’s a huge disappointment for us as we really wanted to go through in this competition,” he said. “Every single player gave his best, but unfortunately their best was not enough to give us the result. But we’re in a process. We need to, as soon as possible, forget about this to focus on Saturday’s league game against Golden Arrows.
“I will not be a cry baby – I will be myself, this is our team, the same team that beat Kaizer Chiefs, and the same team now. We live under the philosophy that when things are good, we do not fly high in the sky, and when it’s bad, we don’t give up, and we move on.”
Kick-off at Princess Magogo Stadium is set for 20:15.