Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro says facing one of the biggest matches of his career isn’t something he is focused on as he addressed the dominance of Al Ahly.
The Club of the Century have won five of the last six Champions League titles and are once again favourites for the competition this season, but Riveiro says he’s not focused on his personal milestones ahead of the major clash at Orlando Stadium.
With the collective message always being driven by Riveiro, he maintained the narrative saying their primary task it to prepare the squad to try and beat the Egyptian giants when they meet in matchday two of Group C in Africa’s elite club competition.
“I’m a very pragmatic person so I am focusing on my players to beat them, I don’t really think about the occasion, let’s put it that way, I respect each and every opponent obviously we’re talking about a opponent with a huge and brilliant history especially in this competition, it’s something you have to respect,” he said.
“And that is the complexity of the task, it’s an opponent that is not only for the players to know how difficult it’s going to be to find the answers to the questions on the field but also for us as a coaching staff, for me a coach too – I don’t wanna say have extra preparations…
“But obviously it”s a team that asks questions that are not always easy to answer and we need to be prepared to anticipate those ones and help our players live as much as we can, that’s our job but I don’t think about which game is the most important in my career.
“This is about Pirates, our players, to make sure they can face the game with confidence and good preparation that is our role here [as coaches].”
Tactically, Al Ahly are amongst the finest clubs on the continent with an army of technical staff and attention to detail in the way their sustain their dominance, from personal chefs to recruitment and knowing when to sell, knowing when to buy to improve their squad.
“The coaching staff has been working on this game for a long time, to make sure we are really prepared when the week started, that’s the thing… it’s not by chance they are dominating continental football, there’s various reasons,” Riveiro explained.
“The quality of the players, a well-structured team, they don’t have any problem facing different scenarios during the game, to protect a 1-0 lead, to be more conservative, to change the structure or rhythm when they’re looking for a goal.
“The individual talent of the players, the experience, all of those things together… is what makes them really dangerous, we need to play every minute at our best, fully focused, not losing the concentration for a second because it’s when they make you suffer and punish you. It’s going to be an interesting game and we are prepared.”
