Before he was sidelined, Saleng had established himself as a key player for the Pirates.
Orlando Pirates received a major boost ahead of their clash against MC Alger with the news that Monnapule Saleng has returned to training with the first team.
The Buccaneers will face the Algerian giants in a CAF Champions League quarter final first-leg clash at Stade du 5-Juillet-1962 in Algiers this evening (kick-off is at 9pm).
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Saleng has not been playing for Pirates for four months due to undisclosed reasons, with reports suggesting that the Bafana Bafana winger was unhappy with the salary he was getting at Pirates.
But his return to the Buccaneers’ first team has raised hopes amongst the club faithful that Pirates could achieve one of their goals this season, and that is to go all the way to the final of the CAF Champions League.
Before he was sidelined, Saleng had established himself as a key player for the Pirates. He scored five goals and made one assist in 13 appearances.
Pirates posted a video of the team training this past weekend, and Saleng was part of the training squad.
But word coming out of the Pirates camp is that Saleng did not travel with the team to North Africa.
“Even though the coach (Jose Riveiro) was excited to have his star player back, he didn’t feel that he was ready for this trip to Algeria. I’m sure you’ll see him in the coming games, but he’s not going to play against MC Alger on Tuesday,” a club insider told The Citizen.
MC Alger coach targeting victory over Pirates
Meanwhile, MC Alger head coach Khaled Ben Yahia has issued a rallying call to his players ahead of the Pirates clash.
Ben Yahia told his charges that it was important to win this encounter if they were to stand a good chance of reaching the next round of the competition.
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“This match is not like any other. It’s not a simple league match where you can make up for it the following week. It’s a Champions League quarter-final. If you want to make history for Mouloudia, the time is now,” Ben Yahia is quoted as saying by the Algerian outlet Competition DZ.
“Get it into your heads that a draw or a defeat would put us in great difficulty before the return to South Africa. We must win this match, whatever the cost,” he added.
