AmaZulu coach Pablo Franco Martin is admiring the work done by Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro, and also praised the club’s leadership for being patient with the Spanish coach.
Usuthu will host Pirates in a rescheduled league match at the Moses Mabhida Stadium (19:30), with Pirates returning to the venue where they won the MTN8 title on 7 October when they beat Mamelodi Sundowns on penalties.
It was the third major cup in Riveiro’s career at Pirates, having also won the MTN8 at the same venue last season, when they beat Usuthu in November, as well as the Nedbank Cup also last term.
It will be the first time the two Spanish coaches – one born in Madrid and the other in Celta – will meet each other in the dugout, with Martin hailing Riveiro for the club’s progress since he joined in June last year.
“The only thing I can say, he is doing an amazing job,” said Martin when asked if the success of Riveiro played an influential part for him to take the Usuthu job at the beginning of the season.
“This is something you guys can see, I don’t want me to tell you. The success is there, not only in terms of trophies but in terms of how the team has been developing the last year and a half.
“I said it from the beginning, it is a matter of the technical staff but also a success for the club last season because they gave him the trust, gave him the time – they realised that they were improving [even] if the results were not coming [at first].
“From there, they were patient and now they are getting everything they deserve. They have been working hard and it is the words of admiration for his technical staff for how the club is doing.”
If facing Pirates wasn’t already a daunting task, Riveiro has not lost at the Moses Mabhida Stadium since he was appointed as head coach.
“I hope at the same time we can build the same thing, same idea because we have the same vision because we want to be big again,” continued Martin.
“We want to represent AmaZulu in the African competition. We want to fight for winning trophies.”
AmaZulu have not defeated Pirates in Durban in 14 years, with their last win coming on 28 October 2009 at Chatsworth Stadium, when Bradley Ritson’s goal was cancelled out by Katlego Mashego before Ayanda Dlamini scored the winner with 13 minutes to go.
