MTN8 final against Sundowns a defining moment for Pirates coach Riveiro

Orlando Pirates might be waddling towards the MTN8 final, but coach Jose Riveiro is confident that the team can stand tall on Saturday and walk out of Moses Mabhida Stadium as champions. 

The Buccaneers head into this game in a slump, having faced disappointment in their last four matches. Mamelodi Sundowns, who Pirates will face in the final, had a strong hand in the club’s dizzying spiral. 

With one eye on the upcoming match against the reigning DStv Premiership champions, Riveiro rested several key players when Pirates took on Jwaneng Galaxy in the CAF Champions League in Botswana on 17 September. Galaxy took advantage of that, beating Pirates, who went on to lose to Sundowns three days later. 

Stellenbosch compounded the club’s woes in the second leg of the MTN8, beating them 1-0 at Orlando Stadium.

Pirates, however, had done enough in the first leg and won the two-legged contest on the away goal rule, with the match ending 2-2 on aggregate. 

Riveiro brought his big guns when Galaxy visited Orlando last Friday but they failed to progress to the group stage – losing the tie in penalties after it ended 1-1 on aggregate.

This poor run means that Riveiro and his charges go into the final under pressure, especially coming up against a team so rampant they have forgotten how to lose. 

"I don't even know which results you are talking about," the Spaniard chirped, when asked about the impact of the slump the club is on as they prepare to take on Sundowns, who now hold the record for the longest unbeaten run in the league (32 matches). 

"I am fully focused on the final. I am not a person who heads towards drama. It's done! It's gone! There is nothing we can do anymore. What we can do is do our best this week in order to be