Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has insisted that whatever happens in their titanic clash against reigning league champions, Mamelodi Sundowns, at Orlando Stadium on Wednesday night won’t have any bearing on Bucs’ title credentials.
“It’s early to say that when we win, we are still in the race or if we draw, we are not in the race any more,” Riveiro said on Monday at a press conference held at Rand Stadium, their training base, on Monday.
Even so, Riveiro stressed the importance of winning, especially because they are playing at home and they are coming from a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Botswana side Jwaneng Galaxy in the first leg of the CAF Champions League second preliminary round on Sunday. This clash kicks off at 7.30pm.
“It is important [to win] because it’s three points [at stake] and we are playing at home. We don’t want to drop any points, especially at home. We want to go back on the winning track as soon as possible. We have the opportunity just after not getting the result we were looking for yesterday [on Sunday in Botswana],” Riveiro said.
Riveiro views facing perennial league kings Sundowns as an exciting challenge, implying Sundowns’ success gives them extra encouragement ahead of this tie. Riveiro also suggested that Sundowns themselves relish coming to Orlando.
“It’s nice to have an opportunity to play against Sundowns because it’s a challenge, there’s extra motivation. But we are Orlando Pirates and I think for the opponent it’s also something to play against us, to come to Orlando and play that game,” he said.
Against Jwaneng, Pirates rested a number of their key players such as Zakhele Lepasa, Monnapule Saleng and Patrick Maswanganyi among others. Still, Riveiro has insisted that this wasn’t a squad rotation.
“After the [recent Fifa] break, we looked at the schedule, knowing that we must play from Sunday to Sunday... three very important games for us in three different competitions, where we want to perform at our best, that's our concern, that’s all,” Riveiro said.
“Don’t talk about rotations because it’s not a rotation, we try to go to games with guarantees that we can compete as good as possible. In Botswana we didn’t get the result that we wanted obviously, but it’s only the first half of the game.”
Win or lose, we remain in the race, says Riveiro
Facing Sundowns an exciting challenge, says Pirates coach
Image: gallo Images/Lefty Shivambu
Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has insisted that whatever happens in their titanic clash against reigning league champions, Mamelodi Sundowns, at Orlando Stadium on Wednesday night won’t have any bearing on Bucs’ title credentials.
“It’s early to say that when we win, we are still in the race or if we draw, we are not in the race any more,” Riveiro said on Monday at a press conference held at Rand Stadium, their training base, on Monday.
Even so, Riveiro stressed the importance of winning, especially because they are playing at home and they are coming from a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Botswana side Jwaneng Galaxy in the first leg of the CAF Champions League second preliminary round on Sunday. This clash kicks off at 7.30pm.
“It is important [to win] because it’s three points [at stake] and we are playing at home. We don’t want to drop any points, especially at home. We want to go back on the winning track as soon as possible. We have the opportunity just after not getting the result we were looking for yesterday [on Sunday in Botswana],” Riveiro said.
Riveiro views facing perennial league kings Sundowns as an exciting challenge, implying Sundowns’ success gives them extra encouragement ahead of this tie. Riveiro also suggested that Sundowns themselves relish coming to Orlando.
“It’s nice to have an opportunity to play against Sundowns because it’s a challenge, there’s extra motivation. But we are Orlando Pirates and I think for the opponent it’s also something to play against us, to come to Orlando and play that game,” he said.
Against Jwaneng, Pirates rested a number of their key players such as Zakhele Lepasa, Monnapule Saleng and Patrick Maswanganyi among others. Still, Riveiro has insisted that this wasn’t a squad rotation.
“After the [recent Fifa] break, we looked at the schedule, knowing that we must play from Sunday to Sunday... three very important games for us in three different competitions, where we want to perform at our best, that's our concern, that’s all,” Riveiro said.
“Don’t talk about rotations because it’s not a rotation, we try to go to games with guarantees that we can compete as good as possible. In Botswana we didn’t get the result that we wanted obviously, but it’s only the first half of the game.”
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