Orlando Pirates coach Jose Riveiro believes his team is now well prepared to face Marumo Gallants after their last meeting went horribly wrong for the Buccaneers.
Pirates take on Gallants in the Nedbank Cup semi-final on Sunday but have memories of their last meeting fresh when Bahlabane Ba Ntwa stunned them 2-0 in a league match on March 1.
Riveiro, however, says the Soweto giants have done their homework well on their opponents and they will be ready for whatever is thrown at them by Abdeslam Ouaddou’s side.
“It’s not about getting lessons because I’m in the stands, like you said there is an opportunity to play against Marumo,” Riveiro said during a press conference.
How is Riveiro prepared for Gallants?
“It didn’t go well for us that time and from there we have the opportunity to continue to analysing them, visualising them, trying to understand what are they looking for, what kind of football team they want to be.
“We played them. I think few days after the new coach it was a little bit of uncertainty about what kind of team, what kind of game are we going to play there.
“So, the possibility to learn is that something that is presented to us every week not only in the games that we are playing against them. We know them very well, I’m sure that they know us as good as we know them so in our days in football there’s no secret what teams are capable to do.
“It’s about the way you want to approach the game on the day, and we need to be ready for different scenarios.”
Bucs coach keen to avoid another upset
Gallants went hard on Pirates in their last meeting, with their approach forcing the Buccaneers into mistakes that they capitalized on to secure the win.
Pirates have since put together a six-match unbeaten run, which includes two draws and four wins across all competitions, although Ouaddou’s team are also on a good run with two losses, and three wins since that memorable victory.
Riveiro is looking to make it to a third straight Nedbank Cup final after guiding Pirates to victories in the last two seasons.
