“it’s another opportunity for us to get the three points and to continue our journey in the competition,” said Riveiro.
Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro is confident that his team has what it takes to beat Al-Ahly.
The Buccaneers will host the African champions in what is expected to be an exciting CAF Champions League group match at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday (kick-off is at 3pm).
Speaking to the media at the same venue on Friday morning, Riveiro said fans can expect a high tempo game.
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“Second game of the group stage and it’s another opportunity for us to get the three points and to continue our journey in the competition. It’s an opportunity for us to keep learning as a group and to keep growing and be more mature. The game is going to be played at a high tempo. It’s going to be 22 excellent players on the field at 3 o’clock tomorrow [Saturday]. It’s an opportunity for us to increase our confidence,” said Riveiro.
“We’re ambitious and we want to make sure that we don’t forget that we’re playing for the result and we’re playing at home and the only result we would like to collect here is a victory. We’re going to fight with everything we have to make that possible.”
With many players coming back from injuries, Riveiro has the luxury of selecting his 20-man matchday squad from an almost full squad. The likes of Goodman Mosele and Monnapule Saleng, who were missing from previous games, were amongst the players who were training at Orlando Stadium on Friday.
“What I can tell you is that we are training right now with 36 players available for selection. Luckily, we have even the long-term injuries coming right, it’s just a small group of players, actually four exactly who are not available.
“Everybody is really fit, everybody is really pushing this week to be part of the 20, to be part of the starting XI and that’s good news for the team.”
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Ahead of Saturday’s clash, Riveiro also reminded the Pirates fans about the importance of coming out in large numbers to support the team.
“Every time we play in Orlando, we feel that we have an extra (player) and that extra are the people who come to the stadium to support us. Tomorrow they must play their role again if they want to see the team win the games.”
