Joseph Makhanya warns Orlando Pirates about Bloemfontein Celtic in MTN8 final

Ezika Magebhula have reached the final of the MTN8 after embarrassing their biggest rivals Kaizer Chiefs with a 5-0 aggregate scoreline in a two-legged semi-final.

Pirates will now face an unpredictable Bloemfontein Celtic on December 12.

"Hhayi khona! Hhayi khona! Football is not like that," Makhanya tells snl24.com/kickoff.

"In football you only celebrate once everything is done because as much as Pirates and the supporters managed to avoid SuperSport United, Celtic can be a dangerous team.

"The way they are playing you can see there's an understanding there. Their coach is blending them very well these boys so you can't celebrate yet, there's still a lot of work to be done.

"So what they need to do Pirates is to show their supporters and people they are a big team. They need to have that arrogance, but that arrogance they must use it in the final.

"If you can remember Celtic, this is their second final this one and their coach has made it clear they have learned a lesson in their last final, and this one they really need it."

Scroll right to see Makhanya's Bucs-heavy Dream Team (4-4-2)

GK - Thabang Stemmer - Good reader of the game, organiser, good shot-stopper, good positioning skills, good on penalties.

RB - Jimmy Tau - Leadership, comfortable on the ball, good game-reader, good at one vs one situations, overlapped very well and good crosser of the ball.

LB - Abednego Netshiozwi - Strong at one vs one, comfortable on the ball, good overlapping skills.

CB - Lucky Lekgwathi - Good leadership qualities, good speed, good header of the ball, good at one vs one situations, hard tackler.

CB - Fabian McCarthy - Clever, good game-reader, organiser, calm and comfortable on the ball.

CM - Ernest Mtawali - Classy good game reader, had the ability to defend and attack, could score goals from far, comfortable on the ball.

CM - Benedict Vilakazi - Ability to defend and score goals, good game-reader, creativity, ability to use both feet.

RM - Steve Lekoelea - Had speed, good at one vs one, ability to cut inside and good crosser of the ball. He was also a good set-play taker, creative, not a one-dimensional winger.

LM - Helman Mkhalele - Great speed, good one vs one. Ability to cut inside and connect with other midfielders and strikers. Scored and created goals, and a good crosser.

ST - Benni McCarthy - Could score goals!

ST - Lesley Manyathela - Technically gifted, always within striking positions.

Makhanya continues: "So you can't say it is going to be easy for Pirates. Nothing has been won yet, don't start celebrating yet until the guys finish the job. Celtic will come as underdogs but they are not really underdogs because they've been doing well.

"They are growing each and every game they are playing. Their players' confidence is right, passing patterns are right, so everything is flowing at Celtic and that makes them dangerous against Pirates.

"Because as much as they've beaten Chiefs, I'm not yet convinced with them Pirates because they've been playing through transitions. So I haven't seen them dominating a game the whole match as they are supposed to.

"So I'm hoping they give Celtic the respect that it deserves and treat the game like a final, after that then Amabhakaniya can celebrate."

Makhanya also explained how Pirates used transitions to beat Chiefs 2-0 in the second leg of the semi-final.

"It was an easy game for Pirates. They just needed to guard against complacency because I think they did the job in the first leg," he adds.

"In the second leg they just needed to be cautious and wait for Chiefs to open up, which they did. By defending cautiously they forced Chiefs to come out and that's when Pirates pounced on them."