Pirates’ Riverio – Lions clash is no time to party

With games coming thick and fast, Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro is happy to have had a week to prepare for their tricky fixture against minnows Hungry Lions in the last 16 of the Nedbank Cup at Orlando Stadium on Saturday.

The Buccaneers are aiming to defend their title, but Riveiro knows it won’t be easy, starting with this game against the Northern Cape Motsepe Foundation Championship outfit.

The Pirates mentor believes this game will allow them to redeem themselves by getting a positive result at home, after their disappointing 1-1 draw with Cape Town Spurs last week.

He is also happy, however, that he goes into this tie with the team having beaten Kaizer Chiefs 3-2 in the Soweto derby at FNB Stadium last Saturday.

“Games are coming quickly for us. Fortunately, we had one week to prepare for this one, and again having an opportunity to play in Orlando is an opportunity for us to perform better than the last time (in Orlando) when we had a PSL (Premiership) fixture (against Spurs),” said Riveiro.

Dangerous Lions

Riveiro, – whose charges have already faced a lower league side in the competition Crystal Lake FC, beating them 6-0 – emphasised the importance of taking the game against Lions seriously, knowing well how lower league teams have upset top-tier sides in the past.

“We don’t see ourselves like we are in a party situation because the opponent is playing in the second-tier. We know the story about these games, we are preparing ourselves with the maximum respect for the match,” added Riveiro.

The Sea Robbers will be facing a Lions side that has been doing quite well in the National First Division (NFD). The Northern Cape-based club is in sixth place on the log with 31 points after 21 matches. Mathematically, they still have a chance for promotion or to quality for the playoffs at the end of the season.

They made their way to this stage of the tournament after beating fellow first division side JDR Stars 1-0 in the last 32.

Ditau are certainly not a team to be taken lightly, and they will surely be looking to prove a point against the Buccaneers.

However, Pirates have a lot of experience playing lower league teams. Last season on their road to winning the Nedbank Cup, they had to go past All Stars FC, Venda Football Academy, and Dondol Stars, before facing Chiefs in the semifinals and Sekhukhune United in the final.

Pirates will be without one of their heroes from the Soweto derby win over Amakhosi against Lions, with Thabiso Lebitso suspended after picking up his fourth booking of the season against Chiefs.