Riveiro Confident Pirates Can Trump Hunt’s SSU For CAFCL Football

Orlando Pirates head coach Jose Riveiro is confident his side can beat secure CAF Champions League football ahead of Gavin Hunt’s SuperSport United on the final day of the season.

Only two goals separate the two sides, with Pirates second and SuperSport third on 51 points each after the Soweto giants’ 1-1 draw with Sekhukhune United and Matsatsansa’s 1-0 win over Kaizer Chiefs at the Royal Bofokeng Stadium today.

Terrence Dvzukamanja’s opener was canceled out by former Buccaneer Edwin Gyimah as they dropped four points from their last two home games to allow Hunt’s troops to get back into the reckoning ahead of the season finale.

“A difficult game, what we expected actually, a difficult team to [break down], ten clean sheets in last 20 games and the coach Brandon [Truter] speaks about the type of opposition we faced today,” Riveiro said.

“They never used a back five any time this season so it was a surprise, so we tried to adjust as soon as possible, something quite frequent when teams come to Orlando they do something different than usual.

“We managed to get the lead but the answer from the team once we took the lead was not what we wanted, we gave them meters and opportunities to be close to our box, couple of set-pieces, they scored a goal we can’t concede, we just can’t, I think they touched the ball three times on the head in the box – but well it can happen…

“So we did our best, but we did enough to get a point, but one shot on target, they got a goal, here at home it’s the same story last week against Royal AM, so two games in a row we could have win, but at least we didn’t lose, it’s still in our hands to get second spot when we win next win in Durban, that’s our objective now.”

With only goal difference separating the two sides, the Spaniard was not too harsh on his side not finishing the job earlier, stating where they were three months ago, in hindsight, the position they are in, is something to marvel.

“We don’t know how many goals we need, we need to win first, it will be a difficult game away to AmaZulu, it’s an excellent team,” Riveiro said when asked how they will approach the final clash.

“First we need to think about how we’re going to win the game, it’s the last game of the season, so probably many venues will have people on their phones, watching the apps, what the others are doing, and what they have to do.

“But first of all, we need to win, we need three points, play as well as possible and then see how many goals we need, maybe we’ll only need one – so we have small minimum advantage, but if you think about the scenario three months ago and the advantage [SuperSport] had in that moment. 

“I think we can be proud of the performance of the team in the last part of this season, we’re glad to be in the last fixture with the opportunity in our gands to be second.

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“We’re going to fight for that and yeah, that’s all we need to do, to win and hopefully it;s enough advantage to consolidate second position.”

Pirates face AmaZulu next Saturday at the Moses Mabhida Stadium (15h00).