The Urban Warriors qualified for the preliminary stages of next year’s CAF Confederation Cup as runners up of last season’s Nedbank Cup, and have been drawn to face Angolan outfit GD Sagrada Esperança in February.
Scott, who has previous experience of playing on the continent, is fully aware of the challenges his side will encounter on their travels.
“I’ve played twice in African competition,” he tells snl24.com/kickoff. “I don’t know how it is now, but back then, it was the worst ever. The conditions were unbelievable. The hotels were crazy – they treated us the worst. We took our own food the last time – instant porridge, eggs, our own water, everything. I think the only thing we ate there was their rolls, and bananas! It was scary!”
Despite the eye-opening experience, Scott knows it is something that will help build the young Ajax squad he is part of.
“We’ll have to wait and see how it will be, but it’s always a nice experience, and it always helps you a lot as a player to develop, and in life as well, where we often take things for granted,” he says. “It’s been a while since we’ve been in Africa, but I watched Pirates’ games: it’s not the best football, but they’re very physical, and it’s the conditions that you have to get used to.”
Scott feels coach Roger De Sa will be a major help to his side, with his past experiences with the Bucs.
“People always ask Roger, ‘You have such a young team, how are you going to compete?’ And he always says, ‘But I did it with Pirates, and got to the Final.’ So it’s not impossible,” Scott says.
“If your coach is positive, then everyone else is positive, and you can feel that.”