Jose Riveiro: Photo Credit: Orlando Pirates.
Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has explained steps taken to uplift his team ahead of the Nedbank Cup round-of-16 game against Baroka FC at Orlando Stadium on Saturday.
The Spaniard said the forthcoming game presents the Buccaneers an opportunity to right the wrongs from last weekend’s 4-1 loss to Mamelodi Sundowns.
“It is another opportunity for us to compete in the Nedbank Cup. I am happy to have a bit of time preparing for this game. We are looking forward to coming to Orlando. It has been a while we couldn’t play on our home ground,” he said.
Riveiro said the defeat to Sundowns in the Betway Premiership match took a mental and physical toll on Pirates players.
“We went through a tough week in terms of the level of the games and the level of opponents that we faced three times in a very short space of time. We didn’t finish that week the way we wanted,” he said.
“The beginning of the week was more about rest and recovery for the players. I think mentally as well we did our job trying to understand together why we couldn’t be as good as we wanted to be on the day. It was good to understand what happened,” he added.
Pirates are the Nedbank Cup holders. Still on Saturday, AmaZulu face Marumo Gallants while Kaizer Chiefs take on Chippa United.
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