Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has hinted on how his side is likely to approach the cup match this afternoon as they aim to live up to the tag of being the cup kings of South African football under his tenure.
The Buccaneers will be in Orlando to welcome Magesi FC in the Last 16 of their Carling Knockout Cup fixture.
Read – After 9 Injuries: Riveiro's Plan To Fill The Next Cup
Being new in the topflight, and after a slow start to their Betway Premiership campaign, Magesi have showed improvement, having collected four points in their last two matches, and Riveiro knows it won't be a walk in the park against them.
"It's a normal scenario for us. every game for us is a must-win game and this is not an exception. We know it's going to be complicated because, like you said, we're talking about a team that is doing quite okay in the league. They just recently got promoted to the PSL and credit to them. They've got an experienced coach (Clinton Larsen) in the PSL, and he is not new to these types of games. He knows the space that he's going to be on Saturday. They are a team with a good combination of experience and young players who would like to prove themselves in a difficult scenario like Orlando is. We are prepared for that, and we know we are not going to play an easy game. It's a knockout game, and one of the teams is going to be in the next round, and everything is possible in 90 minutes. We are prepared because we want to be that team. We respect Magesi a lot or whoever is coming. We have a lot of experience in these types of games, so we don't need anybody to tell us how tough it will be," said Riveiro, speaking to the media during the week.
Read: Nabi's New Injury Concerns For Carling KO
"We don't (only) prepare the players this week, the players are prepared already since long time ago to deal with a difficult season one more time. We're going through our fourth competition in a space of two-and-a-half months and with the same intention as the other ones. The mental preparation to try to deliver our best performance in each and every game is done since long time ago. We try to reinforce that objective of playing each and every game this season, every possible game and this competition is not an exception. It's going to be played at the same time as the league matches, and the Champions League as well, so three competitions at the same time. Hopefully, that will mean that we're going through the last stages of the tournament and that's our intention. Here we go again," the coach said.
Predicted Pirates line-up: Sipho Chaine, Deano van Rooyen, Nkosinathi Sibisi, Thabiso Sesane, Innocent Maela, Monnapule Saleng, Makhehleni Makhaula, Patrick Maswanganyi, Deon Hotto, Tshegofatso Mabasa, Relebohile Mofokeng.
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