Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has reacted to his side’s MTN8 semi-final draw against defending champions Mamelodi Sundowns, saying it was expected to meet a good opponent at this stage of the competition.
The MTN8 semi-finals were drawn last night and Pirates have been paired with Masandawana for their two-legged semi-final in October.
The Buccaneer last won the trophy in 2020 when they beat Bloemfontein Celtic 2-1 in the final under then coach Josef Zinnbauer and Riveiro says he is keen to go all the way despite receiving a tough semi-final opponent.
“What can I say, it will be an interesting duel. I think it will be a minimum [period] of one month in between the games, so it is difficult to estimate how good the teams will be in that moment,” Riveiro told the club’s media department after the draw.
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“The moments of fitness and confidence and stuff. But basically, I think it will be attractive matches for the fans, with plenty of emotions, with two good teams and a pitch full of quality players on both sides.
“Probably, it will be decided in the second game, so my prediction is that it will be very, very equal games and hopefully plenty of goals and emotions until the end.
“We are very motivated to go until the end in this competition and of course once you are in the semi-finals you can not expect an easy opponent and we got a very good one. We will be ready to be at a good level at that time.”
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