“It’s a must-win game for us,” said Pirates coach Jose Riveiro.
Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has described their Carling Knockout clash against Magesi FC as a must-win.
The Buccaneers will host Dikwena Tša Meetse in the last-16 round of the competition at the Orlando Stadium on Saturday (kick-off is at 3pm).
Riveiro is expecting a “complicated” game against Magesi, but says they are well-prepared for it.
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“It’s a must-win game for us. We know that it’s going to be complicated because we’re playing against a team that is doing ok in the league. They recently just got promoted and they have an experienced coach [Clinton Larsen] who is not new to these types of games. He knows the space that he’s going to be in on Saturday,” said Riveiro.
“Magesi are a team that has a good combination of experienced players and young players who would like to prove themselves in a good scenario in Orlando. We’re prepared for that. We know that it’s not going to be an easy game, it’s a knockout game, and only one team is going through to the next round and we want to be that team.
“We have a lot of experience in these types of games and we don’t need someone to tell us how difficult the game is going to be,” he added.
Meanwhile, Riveiro has come out in defence of midfielder Patrick “Tito” Maswanganyi after he received a backlash from social media following his performance for Bafana Bafana.
Maswangayi, who started the game from the bench, came on for the injured Themba Zwane in the 1-1 draw against Congo-Brazzaville in the AFCON qualifier on Tuesday but could not change the complexion of the game.
After the game, the Pirates midfielder came under a lot of criticism from fans who took to social media to voice their displeasure about Maswanganyi’s display.
“We as professionals cannot afford to put our emotions or mood in the hands of people that we don’t even know,” said Riveiro.
“When we speak about platforms like social media or stuff like that, it’s something abstract. You can criticise me here, we are facing each other and I can answer that criticism, but nothing else.
“Our players are strong enough, they have well-surrounded people who support them in every possible scenario. We talk about performances and in this case, we are fully behind our players,” he added.
Riveiro does not believe that Maswanganyi was the reason why Bafana failed to beat the Congolese on Tuesday.
“I think every time our players are going to the national team, they are giving their all – in good games or bad games, like the last one. I don’t think it was a problem for Tito that Bafana didn’t get the result,” continued Riveiro.
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“As usual, we are proud of them when they go, we are proud of them when they are back and it’s going to continue being the same, not only with Patrick but with everybody else.
“But take for granted that somebody is affected because someone is posting whatever – because I’m not there, for the same reason. I don’t want to get affected by it and I’m not 100% that I would be ready or willing to deal with those comments,” concluded the Spanish coach.
