Pirates coach Riveiro wary of Stellies threat ahead of MTN8 final

With Orlando Pirates looking to become the first Premier Soccer League (PSL) club to win the MTN8 three times in a row, head coach Jose Riveiro is well aware of the difficulty of achieving this task, especially against a tricky Stellenbosch FC.

The Buccaneers will play the Stellies in the final of the competition at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday (kick-off is at 6 pm).

“We respect them [Stellenbosch] a lot. We faced Stellenbosch four times last season, we beat them once. And it took 94 minutes in Athlone to beat them against the same players,” said Riveiro during a media conference at the Rand Stadium on Tuesday.

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“We didn’t get a [positive] result in the other games, so we know very well what it means to play Stellenbosch.”

“It’s going to be a game where we are going to be permanently under threat because they’re going to play in transitions, it doesn’t matter how good and how well we prepare ourselves for that situation, we know it’s coming,” added Riveiro.

“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 aggressive they are. In the counter-press, it is the top team in the league in the PSL tournaments.

“To prove how aggressive they are. Mojela is a striker, but he’s the top in terms of fouls committed with [Ismail] Toure. It tells you quite a lot about the level of aggression they have when they lose the ball. And how aggressive they are going forward and they steal the ball.

“So, we know that those are the moments we need to control close to perfection, and if we do it, we will be close to winning the match,” concluded the Spanish coach.

Pirates’ happy hunting ground

With Pirates having won the MTN8 final at the same venue last season, club captain Innocent Maela is hoping that their ‘happy hunting ground’ will once again prove to be a good omen for them as they try to win the competition for the third time in a row.

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“It’s true that we’ve had some good moments at the Moses Mabhida Stadium. Hopefully, it will be the same on Saturday,” said Maela.