Nedbank Cup: Riveiro - Orlando Pirates set to craft a new story

Photo Credit - Orlando Pirates Media.

Despite losing to Marumo Gallants 2-0 in a Betway Premiership fixture, Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has remained confident that they are more than equipped to beat the same side in the semi-final of the Nedbank Cup on Sunday.

The two clubs will face off at Orlando Stadium seeking for a final spot and a place to face either Kaizer Chiefs or Mamelodi Sundowns, who will also play against each other in a semi final on Sunday.

“It’s a new story on Sunday... it’s a knockout game and it’s a game of consequences with only two possible results. In the other two games that we played [against Marumo in the league], there were three possible results, so this is a different story with a possibility to go to another final,” Riveiro said as quoted by Sowetan.

“We have a decent experience already in this type of competition, and again, we will try to recover as well as possible in a short space of time to prepare for the game as well as we can, and do our best to be in another final.”

Pirates will head into the fixture having qualified for the semi-finals of the CAF Champions League after beating Algerian champions MC Alger 1-0 on aggregate and Riveiro believes the success will help them against Gallants. “We took this continental competition [the Champions League] like a proper test for us to see and to understand ourselves [as to] where we are as a group.

I think we’ve played 14 games in that competition [Champions League] solid, conceding only four goals, and that says a lot about how competitive we are at that maximum level and in that difficult test. We try to use that confidence [ from the Champions League] for the rest of the competitions, and to understand that if we’re capable of being that good in that space, we can be at the same level when we are playing domestically.”