The Buc stops here? Expectations fall on Pirates to snuff Dondol's giant-killing Nedbank Cup run

Despite the giant-killing nature of their opposition, Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro said expectations of defeating Dondol Stars in their Nedbank Cup quarter-final at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Saturday remains high.

Pirates have seen off two Motsepe Foundation Championship teams in All Stars and Venda Football Academy to reach the last eight stage, while Mamelodi side Dondol dispensed of SuperSport United and AmaZulu.

Dondol Stars have been forced to move the game from Tshwane to Polokwane due to the unavailability of the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville, and expectations are that the Buccaneers should progress to the last four.

Then again, this is a David and Goliath affair.

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Pirates last reached the semi-finals in the 2017 campaign, when they went on to become losing finalists against SuperSport United, but the Nedbank Cup has not been kind to them in recent years.

Last season they exited in the last 16 and in quarter-finals the season before, with two first-round exits in the 2019 and 2020 editions further blotting their copybooks.

And there is one giant-killing skeleton in Pirates' Nedbank Cup closet. It came in the round of 32 in 2013 when an unknown Free State ABC Motsepe League side in Maluti FET defeated the Buccaneers 4-1 in what is considered among the most stunning of cup upsets in the history of South African football.

While Riveiro knows the pressure of facing another lower league side, he said Pirates had a massive opportunity to move to the next round to stay in the hunt for silverware.

"It's a great opportunity for us to continue progressing in the tournament, but we're not introducing