Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro says they need to accept who Stellenbosch are but not compromise themselves in the MTN8 final at Moses Mabhida Stadium on Saturday.
Pirates are chasing a third consecutive title in the competition, while Stellenbosch, who beat Mamelodi Sundowns home and away in the semi-finals come in with a real threat.
Before Sundowns took on Steve Barker’s side, coach Manqoba Mngqithi stated that Stellies are not shown enough respect by teams, giving them the opportunity to exploit their opponents on transitions.
A balancing act is required, to limit goal-scoring opportunities and remain the same fluid attacking Pirates that have started the season with 10 games without defeat in all competitions.
“We have to accept Stellenbosch the way they are,” Riveiro told iDiski Times ahead of Saturday’s final.
“We respect them big time. We faced Stellenbosch four times last season – in the MTN8 semi-finals and our two games in the league. We beat them once. It takes 94 minutes in Athlone [Stadium] to beat them against same players.
“We didn’t get a result in any of the other games, so we know very well what it means to play Stellenbosch. And we have to accept it.
“It’s gonna be a game where we are going to be permanently under threat because there’s gonna be transitions, it doesn’t matter how good and how well we prepare ourselves for that situation, we know it’s coming.
“We know [Sanele] Barns, we know [Devin] Titus, we know the young [Bradley] Mojela, we know Jayden [Adams]. We know the capacity they have to play quick forward. We know how aggresive they are. In the counter press, it is the top team in the league – in the PSL tournaments.
“How aggressive they are. Mojela is the striker. He’s the top in the lack of fouls committed with [Ismail] Toure. It tells you quite a lot about the level of aggression they have the moment that they lose the ball. And how aggressive they are going forward the moment they steal the ball.
“So, we know that those are one of the moments we need to control close to the perfection, and if we do it, we will be close to winning the match.
“If we don’t do it, then the result will be compromised.
“And it doesn’t mean that we are going to deny ourselves also the possibility to play football. We are the team that we are. We play the brand of football that we play, and we are going to try and do it even in the final.
“Accepting the challenge everytime we’re on the ball and in possession. The threat will be there all the time, and it’s important to not panic also.
“So, we have to trust in ourselves, trust in our football and at the same time make sure that on the day we have the capacity to neutralize the strengths of the opponent.”
The two sides meet in Durban on Saturday afternoon (18h00).
Story by Lorenz Kohler (@Lorenz_KO).
