Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns’ technical teams will be under huge pressure to win the MTN8, according to Lucky Lekgwathi.
The former Pirates captain will be aware of the pressures that come with representing the institution and while he admits head coach Jose Riveiro and his squad will be under pressure, he feels sometimes the best thing is to ignore the noise around the game.
With optimism high at both clubs due to their strength of their playing squads, the demands from supporters to win titles are evident, making the semi-final second leg today a must-win for both sides.
“To coach or play for Pirates you are always under pressure because the expectations of the supporters are high,” Lekgwathi told iDiski Times.
“Now they don’t want to know about this being new or that. That’s why if you join Pirates and you play bad in your first game, you can’t say no he’s new, no! You understand that’s Pirates – the coach is under pressure, and they want to win that trophy.
“He’s new into the team and you know the Chairman, they want silverware, it’s big team you can’t just come in and say I’m building, I’m building, there’s no building at Pirates – they want results and results is winning that trophy.
“But I would advise him in all seriousness [to be calm], Sundowns are dominating South African soccer so the pressure must be on them to continue. Everyone expects them to win, after they lose what will happen? Their coaches will be under pressure, they will be expecting a call from the President – we lost against Pirates.
“If you’re used to winning all the trophies as players and coaches, you must know the Chairman is going to come to talk to you and say this and that. So for them, the pressure is that they must beat Pirates.
“But even our coach, I’m sure [they told him] you are here to win trophies – here’s the first trophy, the MTN8, you must win this and sometimes when they talk to you and say do 1,2, 3 and you say yes, I will do that Chairman. So he will also be feeling pressure from that.”
