Bondarenko has encouraged his former club to use the same strategy tomorrow when the latest edition of the Soweto Derby comes alive – this time as a Telkom Knockout semi-final that must produce a winner on the day.
And Bondarenko – who sat on the bench as Pirates coach in that 4-1 massacre of Chiefs in a BOB Save Super Bowl semi-final back on November 2, 1996 at the old FNB Stadium – feels nothing has changed about the strategy needed to get Chiefs to succumb.
“We pressurised them from the first minute using the pace of our wings and they just didn’t have an answer. It might now be many years later but the same strategy should be used again by Pirates based on what I have seen of them,” ‘Bondas’ tells snl24.com/kickoff.
Back then the Russian coach had the electrifying pace of Helman Mkhalele and Josep Ngake down the wings which tore Chiefs apart and left their full-backs confused.
Nineteen years later the Buccaneers will have Thabo Rakhale and Mpho Makola in attacking mode on the flanks.
“Chiefs normally struggle against teams that use pace on the wings and to beat them you have to go at them instead of giving them respect and sitting back. The strategy should be to attack them from the word go again tomorrow. Pirates must just attack with speed so that Chiefs feel the pressure,” he says.
“Remember, Chiefs are not used to being put under pressure and so they don’t like it when someone pressurises them. When you pressure them hard they open up. Pirates must use speed, remember speed is very important in modern football because it is one of the best ways of opening up solid defences. I want Pirates to win again using speed.”
The veteran gaffer adds that he also has hopes of seeing Pirates win the CAF Confederation Cup this year and then going on to win the CAF Super Cup just like he did back in 1996.
Pirates beat Algerian club JS Kabylie – who had won the old CAF Cup Winners’ Cup the previous year – by a solitary goal scored by Bruce Ramokadi to lift that year’s Super Cup.
“I want Pirates to not only win the Confederation Cup but to lift the second Super Cup,” he says.
Bondarenko arrived back from Russia where was in charge of a military select team three days ago and says he is available for any coaching job in the country.
-------------------------------------------------------------