Johannesburg - Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro has shot down his side’s favourites tag in the MTN8 final, saying opponents AmaZulu want to win the crown just as much.
Pirates and AmaZulu are two of the oldest clubs in local football, celebrating their 85th and 90th anniversaries, respectively, this year.
But the two clubs have gone through different spells as far as silverware is considered, with Pirates being dominant compared to Usuthu.
However, history will count for nothing when the two outfits face off in the MTN8 final at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday night.
And that’s according to Riveiro, who denied suggestions that they are favourites – having also won the ‘Wafa Wafa’ cup at the same venue in 2020.
“I can’t imagine one team going into the final saying ‘It’s Okay to be here, the result doesn’t matter’,” argued the 47-year-old Spanish-born coach.
“No, everyone has the same thing to lose – the title. It’s 90 minutes, 11 against 11. So don’t tell me about favourites and a hungrier team.
“That’s not true. If someone feels something like that, it’s probably because they don’t know what a football player thinks about in a game like this.”
To the public, Pirates might seem favourites, but Usuthu are the more confident team heading into the match after beating Stellenbosch on Sunday.
Pirates, meanwhile, failed to come out tops in their last encounter as they fall to arch-rivals Kaizer Chiefs in the Soweto Derby on Saturday.
But Riveiro is not crying over spilt milk, nor is he short of motivation heading into the MTN8 final, saying they’ll do their best to win the title in Durban.
“As usual, together with the players, we had to analyse the reasons that didn’t allow us to get a good result in our last match,” Riveiro explained.
“Usually, winning or losing, we are critical of ourselves so that we can keep improving. But when you don’t get a good result, you go deeper into reviews.
“As players and coaching staff, we usually want to change the situation as soon as possible because we know we have different experiences on these.”
A Pirates win on Saturday afternoon will augur well for Riveiro’s start to his new life at the Buccaneers, given that his appointment was met with a lot of criticism.
Despite already showing that he could well be the club’s ‘messiah’ and lead them to their first title in two seasons, Riveiro still wants to see improvement.
“In teams, there are evolutions, and we are not an exception. We’ve been working for four months, so it won’t be good if we are still the same,” he said.
“Yeah, we try to learn from the game and chances that we have to complete. We try to implement adaptations to our intentions when we have the ball.
“The profile of the opposition is different. You look at our first starting XI, and the last one. But the players are the most important components in the end.”