Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro has reflected on their Nedbank Cup run and revealed what surprised them about Sekhukhune United in the final.
Pirates were crowned Nedbank Cup champions on Saturday after a last-gasp goal by Terrence Dzvukamanja earned them the 2-1 win.
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Riveiro reflected on their journey from the start of the tournament and suggested that playing against lower league sides was the most challenging aspect.
"Tricky from the start because from the outside it looks easy to play the second division teams and these type of games but it's not easy," Riveiro said in a press conference.
"So, it's been difficult from the start, we had a difficult first game against All Stars, we just managed to get the lead after 70 minutes, I got a red-card in that game.
"Venda (Football) Academy is supposed to be an easy game, after we got the lead, suddenly we shot ourselves in the foot, we played extra-time.
"Dondol Stars' (experience) was something crazy, we played against (Kaizer) Chiefs, a derby in the middle, so I think it was epic until the end," he said.
The Spanish mentor also revealed that he was surprised by the approach from Babina Noko, who scored the opener early in the game through Sibusiso Vilakazi before Tapelo Xoki equalised for Pirates from the penalty spot just before the half-time break.
"To be honest, there were different opinions in the staff about what they (Sekhukhune) were going to do," Riveiro continued.
"I was pretty sure they (were) going to play 4-3-3, not 5-3-2 like they did in Orlando (Stadium) because it's the way that they can fit their best players and it's a final, that's the identity of Sekhukhune.
"They only changed after 20 games with (Brandon) Truter in the game they played in Orlando, they did it again against SuperSport (United). But I don't want to sound like the smartest one but you always try to play the game before the game starts," he explained.
"And it's been a long time that nobody was pressing us aggressively high and they did it (in the final) and that's the thing I didn't expect.
"I expected a 4-3-3 and them waiting for us lower but they surprised us with high pressing, that's one of the things we tried to correct in the second-half, with the position of our centre-halves in the build-up," he added.
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