Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has accepted the “favourites tag” ahead of Saturday’s Nedbank Cup final against Sekhukhune United.
Ahead of the highly-anticipated clash, many expect Pirates to complete a domestic cup double after already winning the MTN8 earlier in the campaign.
Pirates, who enter the game on a high after finishing in second place in the DStv Premiership and to secure CAF Champions League football, have played in four Nedbank Cup finals since the change in sponsorship in 2008.
They won the 2010/11 and 2013/14 editions, beating Black Leopards and Bidvest Wits 3-1 on both occasions, but lost their two most recent finals in 2015/16 and 2016/17 – both against SuperSport.
Meanwhile, Sekhukhune have reached their first ever final, which led to Brandon Truter accepting the “underdog tag” ahead of the final.
“We are underdogs, everything is in Pirates’ corner,” he said.
“But being underdogs also releases a bit of pressure and that’s how we’re managing it at the moment as well.
“We’re going there without pressure, I think all the pressure is on Pirates to win another cup.”
Pirates coach Jose Riveiro wasn’t too fussed about being labelled as favourites, saying a club of their statue has to accept that pressure.
“I take it [the favourites tag], I accept it, we are Orlando Pirates,” he explained.
“Any game we play, we have to accept that role and that pressure but at the time it doesn’t mean that it’s going to be an easy and just because we’re Orlando Pirates we are going to make it.
“We have to be prepared for a difficult game because first of all it’s a final, second it’s a very difficult team. They’ve shown it several times this season, especially when they faced ‘favourites’, let’s say…
“So we know what’s coming, we know the amount of kilometres and the amount of runnings we have to do in this game in the 90 minutes, or 95 or 120 or whatever is coming.”
