Pirates’ Riveiro wants to create more ‘nice’ memories in Nedbank Cup

Orlando Pirates will begin their defence of the Nedbank Cup with a tricky encounter against Richards Bay FC at the King Zwelithini Stadium in Umlazi on Sunday (kick-off is at 3 pm).

The Buccaneers, the defending champions of the competition having won it in the past two seasons, will be looking to make history by winning the Nedbank Cup for the third time in a row.

But before they can think of winning it, they must navigate past the Natal Rich Boys who always give them tough times whenever the sides meet.

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The last three matches between the sides saw each team record a 1-0 victory, with Pirates winning two and Richards Bay one of those encounters. The Natal Rich Boys, however, were the last team to taste victory in cup competitions between the sides when they beat Pirates on penalties in the 2023 Carling Knockout.  

Pirates coach Jose Riveiro is aware of the difficult task facing the Buccaneers on Sunday but is looking forward to creating more “nice” memories in the Nedbank Cup.

“Richards Bay are a difficult team but at the same time, we are happy to start our time in the Nedbank Cup. We have nice memories of this competition in the last two seasons. We have a difficult task ahead of us to defend the title one more time, but it’s something nice. We’re going to try our best to try and defend it,” Riveiro told the media in Johannesburg on Thursday.

Pirates were scheduled to play Royal AM in a Betway Premiership match on Thursday, but the fixture was cancelled by the Premier Soccer League after the League failed to get an assurance from the troubled club that they would honour their matches.

Riveiro, however, does not see the postponement as a blessing, saying they would have loved to fight for three points against Thwihli Thwahla.

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“Not really. Permanent adaptation to the circumstances is part of our job and this is one more…we don’t complain about it.

“We would have liked to play the game today [Thursday] and fight for those three points, trust me. Now we have to switch our minds and understand that we’re playing a final. If you want to win the Nedbank Cup, you have to play finals every day from the first game,”  commented Riveiro.

Full Nedbank Cup last-32 fixtures: